Large forest fire contained in southern Vietnam
HANOI - Hundreds of soldiers and firefighters have managed to contain a
fire
raging for two weeks in a natural indigo forest in southern Vietnam by
cutting wide firebreaks, an official said Friday.
The fire had endangered thousands of hectares (acres) of primeval
forests in
U Minh Thuong national park, Vietnam's second-largest bird sanctuary.
Firefighters were forced to pump salty water into the park to wet
vegetation
and slow the fire's spread because of a shortage of fresh water during
the
current dry season, said Truong Quoc Tuan, governor of Kien Giang
province.
The salty water, along with the effects of the fire, could threaten the
park's rich biodiversity, including 188 bird species, the official
Vietnam
News Agency said.
The fire, which was still burning Friday, started March 22 in the
21,000-hectare (52,000-acre) park, a former stronghold of Communist
soldiers
during Vietnam's wars against France and the United States. It has
destroyed
more than 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of primeval forests, Tuan said.
Authorities had earlier estimated that as much as 4,000 hectares (9,400
acres) might be burned, but firefighters managed to contain the blaze by
clearing trees 30 meters (100 feet) deep along both sides of eight-meter
(26-foot) -wide canals running through the forest, he said.
More than 400 soldiers and firefighters remained on standby Friday, he
said.
It was the third fire in the past three months in the forest, parched by
dry
weather.
Two weeks ago, a fire started by a cigarette butt destroyed 400 hectares
(1,000 acres) of forests in the neighboring province of Ca Mau.
The Associated Press - April 05, 2002
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