A blaze that has burned 110,000 hectares of forest
in northeast China's Heilongjiang
Province was started late on Saturday on a Nenjiang County
forest farm when workers tried to create a fire prevention belt,
according to an anonymous source quoted by today’s China
Daily.
Up to 4,500 firefighters are tackling the fire in
the Greater Hinggan Mountains, one of China's major forest zones,
which has so far destroyed 30 houses in northern parts of Huma
County, affecting at least 140 locals.
It was reported to have been almost stopped from
spreading further, with large areas extinguished.
At one point it also threatened three other forest
farms linking 25 towns and villages in the mountain area, said
local sources.
Trees and grass are regularly burned to create
isolation belts to prevent massive forest fires, but a change in
direction of strong winds gave the weekend’s prevention effort a
disastrous turn.
Local authorities have urged all forest farms to
give up this method of fire prevention.
Vice Premier Hui
Liangyu ordered forestry authorities to muster enough forest
police to put out the fire as soon as possible, according to a the
State Forestry Administration source yesterday.
The administration’s deputy director, Lie Jiafu,
led a working group to the disaster area, and the provincial vice
governor, Liu Xueliang, was also there.
(China Daily October 26, 2005)