Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has demanded a quick control over
northeast China's forest fire that has burnt for more than three
days.
Hui asked local governments and fire-control authorities in Heilongjiang Province to resort to more
scientific measures to prevent the fire from further spreading and
quench it as soon as possible.
He also ordered local authorities to step up preventative
measures to make sure that no fire will break out in other regions
of the province, where a dry spell with many strong-wind days has
lasted a long period of time.
The vice premier asked local authorities to find out the cause
of the fire soon and "severely punish the troublemaker".
The blaze was first spotted in the Greater Hinggan Mountains on
Monday afternoon in the Hannuohe forestry area and it soon spread
across some 15 square kilometers of forest.
More than 10,600 people and 10 helicopters have been mobilized
to fight the fire, which was put out at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday but
revived that afternoon and is still out of control.
Local sources said fanned by the wind with a speed of between 20
km to 28 km per hour, the blaze on the Greater Hinggan Mountains is
heading southeastward.
By 3 p.m. Thursday, the re-ignited fire has spread to 45,000
square meters, or 4.5 hectares.
More than 7,000 people have been deployed in the southeast area
to prevent the fire from spreading.
But local sources said that reinforcement was blocked as road
transportation was difficult in the steep mountainous area, which
made fire control even tougher.
Local authorities have been asked to improve fire-control
efforts at night, when lower temperature and wind could help
extinguish the fire.
The sources said local fire-control authorities are also
preparing for artificial rainfall to contain the fire.
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said weak cold air
that arrived in Heilongjiang Province on Thursday from Lake Baikal
in eastern Siberia of Russia is expected to bring moderate
rain.
The CMA said local meteorological departments are closely
monitoring the whether condition to catch the best opportunity to
simulate rainfall.
Jia Zhibang, director of the State Forestry Administration
(SFA), said the administration had started an emergency response
plan on Monday afternoon and issued a series of measures to contain
the fire.
A working team led by SFA deputy director Lei Jiafu had already
arrived at the Hannuohe forestry area, said Jia, who is also the
chief director of China's national headquarters on prevention of
forestry fire.
Sources with the headquarters said causes of the fire are still
under investigation.
The Greater Hinggan Mountains region, where China's largest
virgin forest reserve lies, was ravaged by a major forest fires on
May 6, 1987, causing huge economic losses and many casualties.
Mohe County in the province was the victim of the fire which
claimed 211 lives and injured 246, a result from smaller fires
started by a forest worker's improper use of a machine and two
other workers who were smoking.
Local sources said the Heilongjiang provincial government had
called on local authorities to impose strict supervision over
forest areas to guard against other possible forest fires.
Local governments and the forest fire-control authorities at
various levels were told to keep a close eye on any field fires
that may spread to forests, and all the officials concerned were
warned against negligence of duty.
(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2007)