A fire that damaged at least 1,500 hectares of forests in the
country's northeastern mountains bordering Russia was put out by
3:30 AM Wednesday, according to local source.
Due to a force 3 to 4 wind in the area, people are still stationed
there for fear that smolder might turn to blaze again.
The State Forestry Administration (SFA) said late yesterday that
8,758 personnel and 11 helicopters were deployed to battle the
blaze.
The cause of the fire that started in the Jiagedaqi section of
the Great Hinggan Mountains in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was not yet known.
The SFA said the fire spread swiftly because of gusty winds and
the dry and warm weather, but fire-fighters had snuffed out most of
the flames by yesterday evening.
Meteorological offices, however, have forecast strong winds over
the next few days, and that could make it difficult for the firemen
to extinguish the blaze completely.
"Dry and windy weather may continue over the next few days in
North China and could help the remaining flames to spread," said
Yang Guiming, a senior engineer of Central Meteorological
Station.
The State Meteorological Administration (SMA), too, said that
photographs sent back by satellites on Monday evening showed that
another forest fire in Hunlunbuir League in North China's Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region had spread to about 20 hectares.
Du Yongsheng, director of the SMA's forest fire prevention
office, warned at a press conference on Sunday that China faced a
"serious" threat from forest fires this year, and called for
measures to prevent them.
He said natural disasters caused by climate change such as
global warming could result in drought and sandstorms, especially
in the country's northeastern and northwestern regions.
The growing number of tourists going into the forests during the
May Day Golden Week holiday, too, increased the risk of fire, Du
said.
Twenty years ago, a fire in the Great Hinggan Mountains killed
at least 200 people and damaged about 1 million hectares of
timberland in three weeks.
(China Daily, Xinhua?May 2, 2007)