The first floor of Tam Bac market inexplicably caught fire early Sunday morning, and the entire two-story structure, cover thousands of square meters of ground, was soon covered in flames.
Smoke billowed tens of meters high and the smell of burning spread out across the city center.
Do Hai, who lives near Tam Bac, said the fire may have started in the shoe and fabric section of the market, and then spread quickly to other areas.
Hai Phong City Police dispatched hundreds of firefighters and soldiers to put out the fire.
For four continuous hours, they used dozens of high-pressure cannons fueled by water from Tam Bac Lake to spray the market from all four sides.
The fire was contained and brought under control by 10 a.m.
Vendors said the fire might have caused damages worth hundreds of billions of dong (VND1 billion equals US$ 42,426)
Police are investigating the cause of the fire.