Fire spreads through famous temple on mountain near Taipei Zoo
Fire spreads through famous temple on mountain near Taipei Zoo
2026-08-25
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.
#Taipei #Maokong #temple #Zhinan #onfire #elfuego #fire #ChiangWan-an
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石獅爆裂! 台北指南宮"凌霄寶殿大火" 自一樓殿內延燒
2026-08-25
台北指南宮的「凌霄寶殿」已經有一甲子的歷史，昨晚突然發生大火，一樓的木製桌椅和神像，幾乎全都付之一炬，殿前2石獅高溫燒到爆裂，龍柱焦黑滿地殘骸。陸續有信眾上山，看到滿目瘡痍的情況，都相當難過。好在土木技師會勘後，認為大殿結構安全性並未受損。
熊熊烈火不斷燃燒，整個一樓大殿陷入火海，廟方人員緊急拿滅火器，但也是杯水車薪。
烈火不斷延燒，警消獲報到場，立刻拉起水線，灑水灌救，還出動熱顯像儀，尋找起火點，忙裡忙外，要盡快將火勢撲滅。
重回事發現場，可以看到殿內焦黑一片，裡頭所有桌椅擺設，宗教藝品，都成了灰燼，對比以往宏偉壯觀，香火鼎盛的模樣，看在信徒眼裡，真的好心疼。
驚悚火警意外發生在24日晚間八點多，台北市文山區指南宮的凌霄寶殿，起火點疑似是在一樓殿內，往外延燒後，而由於指南宮位處山區、水源相對匱乏，加上廟宇採用大量木製設計，因此火勢迅速蔓延，燃燒面積約1500平方公尺，直到午夜12點多，才徹底撲滅。
[[第一救災救護大隊大隊長 葉俊興]]
“因為它的木材屬於比較紮實的木材，深層火災他會繼續往內部去燃燒，所以容易復燃的情形。”
凌霄寶殿1966年興建，至今已經60年，樓高6層，是全台灣首座採用鋼筋水泥等現代化建材建造的玉皇殿，位居指南宮群殿最高點，如今慘遭火舌吞噬，不過對建築本體的影響不大。
[[土木技師公會理事長 徐茂欽]]
“只有樓梯間一些柱子，有少部分的粉刷層的一些龜裂，但這不會影響我們建築物安全性。”
台北市指標性的廟宇，遭受祝融之災，市長蔣萬安一早也到現場勘災，並承諾會專案形式，全力幫助指南宮修復、重建，至於確切起火原因，還有待火場調查後釐清。
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