SMOLDERING PAPER: After 150m of cables were destroyed, services were only restored on the day after the fire to up to 5,000 households

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 04, 2020
By: Chang Tsung-chiu / Staff reporter

A Changhua County fast-food restaurant in was allegedly the source of a fire that on Wednesday destroyed TV and Internet cables, interrupting cable TV services at about 5,000 households and Internet at almost 600.

Employees of the McDonald’s branch in Huatan Township (花壇) were burning joss paper in a Ghost Festival ritual, the Changhua Fire Department said, adding that smoldering paper fell through a maintenance hole in the ground, melting the coverings of the cable laid underneath the sidewalk.

The restaurant had to close for 90 minutes due to smoke, a statement released by McDonald’s Taiwan said, adding that the fire was put out by firefighters. The company declined to comment on the cause of the incident.    [FULL  STORY]