The conflagration that engulfed part of the ancient town of Dukezong on Saturday seems to have caught the local authorities unprepared. It took about 10 hours to put out the fire, which destroyed 242 houses and almost two-thirds of the 1.5-square-kilometer old part of town in Shangri-La county in Southwest China's Yunnan province

Despite the explanation that all the houses were wooden and the lanes too narrow for fire engines, and other fire control equipment did not work properly because of cold weather, there is still enough reason to hold the local leaders accountable for the disastrous damage caused by the blaze.

All the factors they have cited as reasons the fire was able to do so much damage could have been addressed in advance had the local government given enough thought to fire prevention.