(TibetanReview.net, Mar19’24) — The fire has been extinguished from one field of its spread, has been contained in the remaining two, and the number of villagers evacuated as a safety measure was more than 5,900, said China’s latest official media reports on the forest fire that started in eastern Tibet’s Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi or Garze) prefecture, Sichuan province, on Mar 15 evening.
The fire, it may be recalled, first erupted in Petse (Baizi) Village of the prefecture’s Nyagchu (Yajiang) County at around 5 pm on Mar 15 and rapidly spread to other areas due to sudden increases in wind speed.
While no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported thus far, China’s official Xinhua news agency earlier said Mar 17 that in the nearby Jiaonibao Village, 21 houses were burned, and about 70 villagers had been relocated, even as the fire had turned less fierce, while heavy smoke lingered.
The first field of fire already extinguished lies to the southwest of Nyagchu county. The second one lies to the county’s northeast and the third to its northwest, reported the local kangbatv.com Mar 18.
The report said special task force members from Sichuan’s Forest Fire Prevention Bureau, as well as professional firefighters from Nyagchu, Gyazil, Dartsedo, and Rongdrag crossed the fire line at Thangda Township and brought under control the second field of fire in the northeast.
The report said that the number of people fighting the blazes now stood at 2,326 compared to more than 1,200 reported earlier.
This report also said that a total of 5,908 villagers belonging to 1,360 families had been evacuated as a safety measure. These included 1,873 residents (435 families) from Chukha Town, 1,380 residents (183 families) from Khar-ringpo Township, and 2,655 residents (742 families) from Khar-ra Town, all in Nyagchu county.
Khar-ra Town lies in the first field of fire which has been extinguished.
China’s official Xinhua news agency and Chinadaily.com.cn report have said, citing Kardze prefecture forest and grassland prevention and control command, that 3,396 people in 11 villages in the county had been safely relocated to eight centralized resettlements.
However, the kangbatv.com report saying 5,908 residents from one township and two towns had been evacuated was cited by the official cctv.com, according to a Reuters report Mar 18.