The government of Nenjiang county in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was denounced by the
provincial government for covering up and delaying report of five
forest fires in the region, said local sources on Sunday.
The five blazes, which broke out on August 10, raged in Nenjiang
in northwest Heilongjiang for eight days before they were reported
to the provincial government and extinguished two days later.
Acreage and losses of the fires are being counted, and experts
believed that the fires were started by people from inside the
forest.
According to Jiang Chengyi, head of the forest fire prevention
headquarters of the province, local government first tried to cover
up the accidents and later attributed cause of the fires to
lightening strikes in order to avoid being scolded for
dereliction.
Heilongjiang saw 25 fires this summer. While blaming the
prolonged dry weather for the accidents, Jiang noted that
negligence of local government and lack of preparation were also
among the main reasons.
Jiang also warned local government to be alert of forest fires
as the dry weather continues and the week-long vocation of the
National Day is drawing near.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2007)