Photo: Xinhua

A number of households in a village in Central China's Henan Province have experienced some 30 spontaneous combustion incidents between February 17-22, with local authorities ruling out arson as the cause of the mysterious phenomena. 

Hou Shu'an, from Fugang village in Tanghe township of Henan, first discovered a pile of sesame plant sticks caught on fire outside the gate of his residence around 4 pm on February 17, local media Dongfang Today reported on Monday.

However, almost immediately after villagers worked together to put out the first fire, they found another pile of dry pine needles burning outside the gate and then the kitchen.

"We first though it was some naughty children [who started the fire], so we did not report it to the police," Hou said.

To everyone's surprise, more similar incidents occurred one after another starting on the morning of February 18.

From February 19 to 20 afternoon, Hou discovered multiple fires inside his house. Hou's bed linen, clothes hanging outside, curtains, and shoes on the ground all caught on fire, said the report.

Luckily, the fires were put out quickly and caused no damage. 

As of Saturday night, around 11 households in the village reported some 30 similar spontaneous combustion incidents, said the newspaper.

Later on, local government agencies including Tanghe police bureau, firefighting units as well as the environmental protection bureau have arrived to conduct an on-site probe, and have ruled out arson as the cause of the incidents.

The local government has deployed special personnel to stand ready round the clock to guide fire prevention and fighting work. The investigation into the cause of the fires is still underway.