After nearly five years' efforts, Liuhuanggou coalfield fire, a blaze that has raged for more than a century in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been finally extinguished, according to the Xinjiang Coalfield Fire Fighting Project Office.
The success will help reduce the loss of 1.76 million tons of coal resources annually, ensure the safety of 1.5 billion tons of quality coal and restore over 2 million square meters of vegetation.
The work started in 2000 as the first step in the all-Xinjiang fire-protection project, said Hou Xuecheng, head of the project office. Hou and 300 colleagues have been concentrating on the fire in Liuhuanggou for nearly five years.
The project has been greatly assisted by
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GZT) GmbH, a German state-backed company.
GZT helped in finding the depth of the fire's underground source. "We have also established a temperature measuring system to make sure the fires have been extinguished," Hou said.
China has invested 98.72 million yuan (US$11.9 million) in fighting the fire at Liuhuanggou. It used to emit more than 100,000 tons of harmful gases each year, including carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, and about 40,000 tons of dust and smog.
A local meteorological center said that the success of the fire-fighting project will have a positive effect on the air quality of Urumqi and the nearby Changji Prefecture.
A yearlong observation period will be set on the coalfield. "We need to be cautious as geological movement is unpredictable, resulting in the ground remaining permanently hot," Hou said.
The Liuhuanggou coalfield fire, which raged on and off for more than a hundred years, producing fumes and pollution for miles around, had burned over an area of 1,830 square kilometers.
Local documents and historians place the blame on a general of the Qing Dynasty named Wan. In 1874 he started mining operations in Liuhuanggou but, whenever a fire broke out in one coal mine, would simply leave it burning and open another one.
The characteristics of coal in Xinjiang and its layered distribution are key reasons for the continual fires. Some coalfields have slanted layers that are exposed directly to the air after crust movements. Dry weather, long periods of direct sunshine and lack of rain are other stimuli for the fires.
Illegal mining also provides convenient tunnels for coal to access oxygen, which facilitates ignition and has caused many ground fires in recent decades. The area is rich in high quality coal and people try to mine it with little regard for safety.
It is reported that Xinjiang accounts for 1.8 trillion tons, or 40.6 percent, of China's total coal reserves. Most of the resources in the region are of high quality.
There are 56 coalfield fires in total throughout the country, and 35 of them are located in Xinjiang. At present 33 coalfield fires in Xinjiang rage on, including seven large ones, causing coal loss of between 80 to 120 million tons every year.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2004)
