Fighting Fire With Fire

Professionals and volunteers team up to contain Chongqing’s raging flames By Tao Xing

In late August, a drone captured a stream of headlights worn by fire and rescue workers illuminating the dark mountain paths and striking a stark contrast with the red flames raging on the other side of the mountain. It also captured the hearts of many Chinese, lighting up the nation’s social media platforms.

The shot, taken on the night of August 25 by photographer Zhou Xuan, shows firefighters battling the blaze at Jinyun Mountain in Beibei District, Chongqing Municipality in southwest China.

The extremely dry and hot weather since August 9 had sparked several forest fires in the city, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management. As of early morning on August 26, all open flames had been extinguished with no casualties or significant infrastructure loss, the ministry said.

Chongqing witnessed several forest wildfires this summer due to its worst heat wave and drought since the first recording of these data in 1961, Zou Yu, an official with the Chongqing Emergency Management Bureau, said at a press conference on August 26.

“The city has experienced record-high temperatures, with those in Beibei reaching 45 degrees Celsius.Temperatures in Chongqing had been above 40 degrees Celsius for 15 days as of August 25. Thirtyone of the municipality’s 38 districts and counties experienced lingering heat and drought as well as low precipitation, with 70 percent less rainfall than the recorded average,” Zou said.

Local firefighters and forest fire responders from neighboring Yunnan, Gansu and Sichuan provinces,joined by more than 20,000 volunteers, participated in the time-critical combat against the wildfires that had besieged the city, according to Zou.ran toward the fire, unlike what you see in many disaster movies, where people tend to run away.”

Local governments issued a call for skilled volunteers and local residents to safeguard their hometown by all possible means, with thousands from all levels of society fighting the fires right next to the professionals.

Facing a steep mountain and its rough roads, Chongqing motorcyclists didn’t hesitate and rode on up and down on the unpaved paths to take up firefighters and supplies. Other volunteers would make their way up carrying food and water. Women and young students helped organize supplies and clear the area at the foot of the mountain, and performed other essential tasks.

Even with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, the motorcyclists picked up nearly 50 kg of supplies, all stuffed into their backpacks, unremittingly repeating the 30-minute one-way ride. At the site of the wildfire in Beibei, more than 100 motorcycles could be seen flying across the scene at all hours of the day, and a maximum 2,000

Of one heart

“It was amazing,” Zhou told. He said when he saw the footage his drone had captured, he was “flabbergasted.”

“I kept a safe distance, but from the photos we could tell rescue workers were only several meters away from the raging flames,” Zhou added. “They all volunteers would be hard at work at the same time, according to thewebsite.

Locals see off firefighters from Yunnan Province in Beibei District of ChongqingMunicipality on August 28. More than 300 firefighters from Yunnan left Chongqing after the open flames of the recent wildfires in the city had all been put out

A drone photo shows the stream of headlights worn by fire and rescue workers illuminating the dark mountain paths and striking a stark contrast with the red flames raging on the other side of Jinyun Mountain in Beibei District, Chongqing,on the night of August 25

Francis Stonier, a 42-year-old American teacher at Southwest University in Chongqing, also joined in the efforts. Together with many other locals, his job was to cut down trees using a chainsaw to create firebreaks, gaps in vegetation or other combustible materials that act as barriers to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire, on the mountain. Stonier first came to Chongqing in 2017, and he now considers the municipality his second home.

“Both my wife and children live in this city. It is my duty to do my part in safeguarding our home,” the American teacher told.

Thanks to unrelenting volunteer efforts, on-site rescue workers had continuous access to cold beverages, and even ice cream, as well as prompt medical attention on the mountain, according to local media reports.

The residents’ stories and snapshots of firefighters sleeping on the ground after working all night and day went viral online and moved many across China. “The people of Chongqing are really amazing,” many netizens wrote on social media.

After the flames had been contained and rescue workers who had come to the city’s aid in its time of dire need were preparing to return home, Chongqing residents lined the streets to give them a grand and grateful sendoff. Some beat drums and gongs and others threw bottled water, eggs and local specialties onto the fire trucks—a time-honored Chinese expression of gratitude.

Fearless

In addition to the bold courage of rescue workers and volunteers alike, this “battle of the bulge” also received much methodical guidance.

For example, all participants in the fight against the blaze were divided into four units. Helicopters and professional firefighting teams took the lead by extinguishing large-scale fire sources, followed by armed police and militia units. After the latter had completed their checklist, a civilian rescue team, responsible for logistics and the extinguishing of sporadic fires, would come in, followed by teams of young local volunteers to clean up the scene.

Aside from cutting down the trees to create fire breaks on the mountain, they also literally used fire to fight fire. Firefighters would manually ignite a fire line to connect with the fire coming in from the opposite direction, ensuring their “meeting point” lacked oxygen,in turn eliminating all combustion conditions. This is an effective measure to control large-scale forest fires.

What’s more, the Central Government’s deployment of rescue power from other regions, in line with local arrangements, made the gigantic undertaking a streamlined and coordinated effort, Wang Hongwei, a researcher with Renmin University of China, wrote in a commentary on thewebsite.

And even though volunteers traveled to the scene individually, they followed the guidelines issued by the rescue headquarters, according to Wang.

In the wildfire’s aftermath, Chongqing has now endorsed several new measures to prevent fire hazards,for example by investigating mountainous areas in the vicinity to reduce the risk of future fires setting ablaze the city once again. BR