1987 Black Dragon fire

Wildfire in China and the Soviet Union July 2025 1987 Black Dragon fire May 6 – June 2, 1987 Greater Khingan Range, Northeastern China; Parts of the Soviet Union 2,500,000 acre Forest; residential; timber 211 266 Drought; forest mismanagement; gas spill The 1987 Black Dragon fire, also known as the 1987 Daxing'anling wildfire (大兴安岭特大森林火灾), was the deadliest forest fire in the People's Republic of China. The fire broke out in Daxing'anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang, on May 6, 1987.Chinanews.com. "Chinanews.com https://archive.today/20130101161222/http://big5.chinanews.com.cn:89/special/guoqing/60/2009/06-24/114.shtml 2013-01-01 ." 大興安嶺特大森林火災. Retrieved on 2009-07-30. It also spread into the Soviet Union. The burning lasted almost a month, when it was finally stopped on June 2, 1987.Sohu.com. "Sohu.com." 1987年5月6日 大兴安岭发生特大火灾. Retrieved on 2009-08-01. The fire covered about 10000 km2 acre on, of which 6500 km2, was forest; it destroyed 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) of forest, including one-sixth of China's entire timber reserves. Opinion The Breath of the Black Dragon in Russia and China https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/01/opinion/the-breath-of-the-black-dragon-in-russia-and-china.html The New York Times 1 October 1988 27 November 2015 0362-4331 Harrison E. Salisbury The Great 1987 Black Dragon Fire — GEOL 105 Natural Hazards http://geol105naturalhazards.voices.wooster.edu/the-great-1987-black-dragon-fire/ geol105naturalhazards.voices.wooster.edu 2015-11-27 About 266 people were wounded and 211 died in the fire, leaving 50,000 homeless. It was one of the largest wildfires ever to occur and the largest to strike China in over 300 years.September 2020 The fire The Black Dragon fire originated in the coniferous Da Hinggan Forests in the Greater Khingan Range, a mountain range in northeastern China. In 1987, the area surrounding the Amur River in the region had been unusually hot and was experiencing a drought, leading to an overabundance of parched vegetation. Today in Wildfire History: 1987 Black Dragon Fire kills 200 on the way to charring 18 million acres in China and Russia Flash Fuels http://rachelcsmith.com/blog/?p=35 rachelcsmith.com 2015-11-27 July 7, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180707202101/http://rachelcsmith.com/blog/?p=35 dead These conditions were ideal for a large wildfire to occur. Because the area was sparsely populated at the time, the exact cause of the fire was not very clear at first; any small ignition could have turned into a major firestorm in the conditions present. Later and widely believed Chinese reports state that the fire was started "when an untrained 18-year-old worker accidentally ignited gas spilled from his brush cutter." The Fiery Breath Of Black Dragon https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/06/05/the-fiery-breath-of-black-dragon/ tribunedigital-chicagotribune 5 June 1989 2015-11-27 According to Harrison Salisbury, the roots of the disaster lay in excessive cutting down of trees without any effort to let the forest regrow, which triggered multiple fires in the region. Whatever the causes were, the resulting firestorm quickly gained momentum, fueled by high winds in the region. Workers reported their truck engines stopping as the fire deprived the oxygen supply in the air as well as burning projectiles raining down on them ahead of the fire. A total of 191 people were killed by the fire,Chapter 3 It Only Takes A Spark: The Hazard of Wildfires https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ND-Review-Chapter-3.pdf Brookings.edu 24 July 2018 and a further 250 were left injured. In addition, 33,000 Chinese were made homeless. The Great Black Dragon Fire: a Chinese Inferno https://business.highbeam.com/411908/article-1G1-8156147/great-black-dragon-fire-chinese-inferno https://web.archive.org/web/20101208041611/http://business.highbeam.com/411908/article-1G1-8156147/great-black-dragon-fire-chinese-inferno usurped 2010-12-08 HighBeam Research subscription 2015-11-27 It remains the deadliest forest fire in the People's Republic of China. Response Although both countries were affected heavily by the fire, China and the Soviet Union responded very differently. China, despite its shortage of advanced firefighting equipment, sent over 60,000 soldiers and workers to try and extinguish the fire. Because the forest was a major source of wood for China as well as the fact that it was close to the Gobi Desert and thus a factor in desertification in northern China, China spent much effort on extinguishing the flames. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, simply let the fire burn out on its side of the border because its vast timber reserves were not seriously threatened by the fire. When the fire finally stopped over a month later, the differences in responses were clear: The Soviet Union had lost more forest (15 million acres compared to 3 million in China), while China was more devastated economically. In the aftermath, China punished individuals for causing the fire; the aforementioned 18-year-old worker, along with his employer, was jailed. The forestry minister Yang Zhong (杨钟) was fired. In addition, a local fire chief who saved his house and left the rest of his town to burn was sentenced to four years in prison. The lessons learned from the Black Dragon fire helped to improve responses to wildfires throughout the world as well as demonstrate the impact that governments can have on the environment. The effect that the fire had on the environment in the region generated new-found concern and speculation about the future of the forest's ecology. See also List of fires in China Harbin SH-5, Chinese maritime patrol amphibious aircraft used in the 1987 wildfire References Further reading Salisbury Harrison E. Harrison Salisbury The Great Black Dragon fire: a Chinese inferno 1989 Little, Brown and Company Boston 9780316809030 https://archive.org/details/greatblackdragon00sali/page/n5 3 April 2020 Heilongjiang Category:1980s fires in Asia Category:1980s wildfires Category:1987 disasters in China Category:1987 fires Category:1987 natural disasters Category:Disasters in Heilongjiang Category:June 1987 in China Category:May 1987 in China Category:Wildfires in China 1987 Black Dragon fire