Fire spreads through famous temple on mountain near Taipei Zoo
On Monday, a fire quickly spread through Zhinan Temple in Taipei, a landmark religious site located on the mountain bordering Taipei Zoo. From the outside, the damage to the exterior may look severe, but, structurally, the building is in good shape, meaning the temple’s 60th anniversary likely won’t be its last.
The flames have spread across the main hall of the temple. Staff members are doing everything they can with fire extinguishers, but they’re no match for the roaring inferno.
As the fire continues to rage, first responders arrive at the scene. They get the hoses ready and douse the temple with water, trying to salvage as much of the historic building as they can. To find the cause of the fire, they use a drone with a thermal imaging camera; they’re doing everything they can to put out this fire.
The next morning, the main hall has been burnt to a crisp: tables, chairs, religious art figurines… so many items have been reduced to ashes. Compared to its impressive appearance in the past, in its current state the renowned temple must be a difficult image to stomach for worshippers.
On Aug. 24 at a little after 8 pm, Zhinan Temple’s fire alarm rang. The flames are believed to have started inside the Taipei temple’s main hall, and then the blaze quickly spread towards the building’s exterior. The temple is located in Wenshan District’s mountains, making it difficult to access water. Another problematic aspect is the building’s large amount of wood, which was a reason the flames spread so quickly. Not being put out until after midnight, the fire destroyed 1,500 square meters.
Yeh Chun-hsing
First responder
Because the structure was built with an immense amount of wood, and then the flames deeper inside continued to spread inwards. So that’s why there was a situation in which the flames multiplied so quickly.
Built in 1966, the 6-story Lingxiao Hall was celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The temple’s burnt hall is the first Jade Emperor hall in Taiwan to use modern building materials like reinforced concrete. It may appear as if Zhinan Temple’s highest hall on the mountain has been destroyed by the flames, but structurally the fire has caused little damage.
Hsu Mao-chin
Civil engineer
Only some pillars in the stairwell were affected, as well as a small amount of cracks in the cement finish, but this won’t affect the safety of our building’s structure.
Early in the morning Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an arrived at the site of Zhinan Temple, one of his city’s landmark temples. Chiang promised that the city government will set up a project in order to help the temple be restored and rebuilt. As for what caused the fire, an investigation is still on-going.
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2026-08-25
