On October 12, on a street in Langfang, Hebei, a green used-clothing recycling bin suddenly caught fire, with thick smoke billowing out. After discovering it, Dong, the proprietress of a nearby restaurant, joined forces with her family, the restaurant's chefs, nearby merchants, and passersby to fight the blaze. The crowd broke open the bin's lock and relayed basins of water to pour inside, completely extinguishing the open flames after more than an hour. According to Dong, the fire was caused by someone treating the used-clothing recycling bin as a trash can and throwing an unextinguished cigarette butt into it.

Source: A green used-clothing recycling bin suddenly caught fire on a street in Langfang, Hebei, with thick smoke billowing out; restaurant owners joined with merchants to voluntarily fight the fire; the person involved: someone treated it as a trash can and threw in an unextinguished cigarette butt, causing the fire · Originally published on 2026-10-12