Society

Firebreaks completed in N China forest borderline

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-11 16:32

CHANGCHUN - Extensive firebreaks have been made along North China's woody borderlines with Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to prevent wildfires from spreading across borders, said the Chinese fire departments Wednesday.

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Zhang Hui, director of the Forest Fire Control Headquarters in Jilin province, said the firebreaks in Jilin have been extended to protect the whole stretch of forest borderlines in the province, with 246 km long along its border with Russia and another 118 km belt with the DPRK.

"The belt is 50-100 meters wide and is without vegetation, which would help prevent wildfires from spreading into forest areas in China," he said.

Zhang said that the border area in Jilin ?was ?more than 80 percent forest.

Meanwhile, such firebreaks had also been made in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which shares a long forest borderline with Russia, according to the regional fire control authorities.

Gao Pengfei, a local fire control official, said Inner Mongolia has made a 680-km long firebreaks to prevent wildfires from jumping across the border.

"Soldiers, with the help of machines, had been tasked to clear weeds from the fire control belt during the summer months. The initiative helped prevent a big forest fire in Russia from spreading across the border in June last year," he said.

Severe wildfires raging in central Russia are still 4,000-5,000 km away from China's border area, according to the monitoring by the Chinese forest fire departments.