Extreme weather events add to spring fire risks

The increase in extreme weather has added to the risks of forest fires this spring, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Liu Yuexiang, an official from the administration's fire prevention department, told a news conference on Thursday that the world has entered a new period of forest fires as extreme weather increases due to global warming.

This spring, temperatures are higher than normal in most parts of China, according to meteorological departments, and the fire risk in the southwest, north and southeast forest areas in the early spring is high.

Li Huiping, deputy manager of the Greater Hinggan Mountains Forestry Group, said at the conference that this year's extreme weather events that have hit the Greater Hinggan region were extremely unusual, with 32 dry thunderstorms on March 22, two months earlier than expected.

Dry thunderstorms are formed when most of the rain evaporates before it can fall on the ground because the air below the clouds is dry. The storm's lightning can strike trees or dry fuel to cause a wildfire.

The hot and windy weather made the forest fire risk level even higher, Li said.

In addition, large flows of people in the forest, a high fuel load on the forest floor, and a shortage of large-scale equipment make it harder to prevent forest fires, Li said.

Liu, the official, said that people in villages use fire for funerals, sacrifices, burning waste and agricultural purposes. In addition, fires along China's long land borders — including Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, India and Vietnam — often pose a threat.

Liu urged enhanced monitoring and early warning by use of satellite remote sensing, aircraft patrol, video surveillance and ground patrol.

He said the country would promote fire prevention and control technology in key areas including Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, Altay in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Saihanba in Hebei province.

More than 23,000 forestry workstations and 2 million ecological foresters are assisting forestry and grassland departments to carry out fire prevention patrols and resolve fire risks, he added.