Section of wildfire in Sichuan extinguished; two more remain

Residents of nearby villages relocated safely, but livelihood severely affected

One of the three sections of a forest fire in Yajiang county of Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, has been extinguished, and relocated residents have received ample supplies of needed goods.

Over 1,200 workers have participated in the firefighting and are still working to put out blazes in the other two sections, according to the Sichuan Forest Fire Brigade. More rescuers from cities such as Panzhihua have joined the efforts and started working at the site of another blaze early on Monday.

The forest fire broke out in Yajiang at around 5 pm on Friday near Baizi village and spread to a larger area, driven by a sudden increase in wind that began on Saturday.

The fire had consisted of three main sections, with control made more difficult by unpredictable wind shifts that spread the blaze in multiple directions.

From Sunday evening to early Monday, fire approached residences near the PetroChina gas station in Yajiang. Witnesses in front of the Yatu Hotel who had a view of the fire near the station said they saw firefighters spraying water on the forest trees to prevent the fire from spreading.

Firefighters laid hose lines and used water cannons on the blaze. Thanks to their efforts, the fire was put under control, the witnesses said in a report by Jiemian.com, a local news outlet.

Yajiang is located in the south of Garze, which has complex terrain with dangerous slopes and deep valleys.

There is no highway at the site of the Yajiang fire, and the mountain slope is between 70 and 80 degrees. In many cases, firefighters have to carry materials on their backs to the area.

The wildfire has created a large amount of smoke. On Sunday afternoon, helicopters carried out three extinguishing operations using buckets of water when the smoke cleared a little, according to the local government.

At 1 am on Monday, 150 members of the Panzhihua branch of the Sichuan Forest Fire Brigade had an early breakfast and headed for the final section of the fire, carrying wind turbines, water hoses and chainsaws.

Gou Ningbo, their deputy commander, said the reason for the night mission was because there are advantages such as low temperatures, stable winds and the increased visibility of the fire at night, Jimu News reported.

According to the Garze prefecture forest and grassland prevention and control command, all 3,396 people in the 11 villages in the county had been safely relocated to eight centralized resettlements, where they have power and lighting equipment, boxed meals, bread and milk.

The fire has so far claimed no lives.

A resident of Baigu village in Xiala town said the collection of matsutake, a type of mushroom, has been severely affected by the fire, according to thepaper.com. Collecting matsutake is the most important source of income in the area.

Liu Xiaobin, chief agronomist of the Yajiang County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Bureau, told thepaper.com that artificial cultivation of the mushroom has not yet been realized, which will make it harder for the crop to recover in the short term.