FIRE SAFETY IN HERITAGE BUILDINGS

A massive fire has destroyed an ancient Tibetan village known as Shangri-La. Chinese authorties renamed the community years ago to attract tourists. And they had succeeded. But now the village, which is also known as Dukezong, is mostly gone, consumed by a blaze over the weekend that lasted 10 hours and destroyed nearly 250 houses. David Fundingsland, who's in charge of educational travels for the tour group  Wild China , says the 1,300-year-old Tibetan village in China's southwestern province of Yunnan used to be a stop on the ancient southern Silk Road. "This was a caravan route where tea from the south part of Yunnan Province, southern China, was sent by horse caravan into Tibet," he says. "And in exchange for the tea, the Tibetans would give war horses and other valuable goods that they were getting from India and beyond." Fundingsland says the old town was a popular tourist destination because of its historic character. "Some of the...

No Buildings Name Date of Fire Incidents 1 Hôryû-ji temple, Nara , Japan 1949 2 York Minster, York , England July 1984 3 Hampton Court Palace , England March 1986 4 Uppark House , England August 1989 5 Monastery of Simomopetra , Greece August 1990 6 Proveantgarden, Copenhagen , Denmark February 1992 7 Odd Fellow Palace , Copenhagen , Denmark April 1992 8 Christianborg Palace Church , Copenhagen , Denmark June 1992 9 Windsor Castle , England November 1992 10 Redoutensal, Hofburg Palace , Vienna , Austria November 1992 11 Pont de la Chapelle, Lucerne, Switzerland August 1993 12 St George’s Church, Halifax, Canada June 1994 13 Yuzhengong Palace, Wudang Mountain, China January 2003 14 Namdaem...