Twenty-Five Nights and Days, a documentary that was often broadcast on various local television stations in Daxing'anling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, reflects the story of the forest fires that ravaged Xing'anling in the spring of 1987. The May 6 fire has become the most painful memory in the hearts of every Daxinganling people, and the raging mountain fires not only burned a large area of primary forest, caused serious damage to natural resources and the environment, but also killed innocent lives in this disaster. Since then, the awareness of fire prevention has also become an unchangeable consciousness that every forester integrates into the bone marrow.
At that time, there was no national mourning, no centralized donations, no network assistance, and many details due to the lack of information have now become a mystery of history. More importantly, as time went on, fewer and fewer people came to experience it, when I was still a child, and the ins and outs of many things were not clear.
There are many theories about the cause of this wildfire, the most widely recognized is the three fires in one: the improper operation of the irrigation cutter caught fire, the spark plug of the train (also like a car, I can't remember) flew out to ignite the dry bushes, and the lightning strike caught fire, these three events occurred in the three forestry bureaus, due to the dry climate in the spring, the wind and grass and trees are flammable, and the three fires that occurred in the three forestry bureaus eventually combined into a fire dragon and ravaged the Xing'an Mountains. And with the sacrifice of those who have experienced history, the distant departures of those who have gone away, and the forgotten, the truth of history can only be sealed in people's memories.
Daxinganling 56 Fire Memorial Hall
There is a book at home, "Burning Spring", which is a comprehensive collection of reports about the fire, the cover is the back of a firefighter against the blazing fire, when I was a child, I did not understand things, I regarded it as an ordinary book, and did not care too much. Regarding this fire, how much area was burned, how many forest bureaus were burned, how many billions of properties were lost, how many cubic meters of wood were burned, you are interested in searching, and I have no intention of mentioning more here.
According to my memory, among the many forestry bureaus in Daxing'anling, only the New Forestry Bureau survived the fire (there may be a deviation in memory, but the new forest was indeed not affected by the fire), and the newly built cinema became a refuge for victims from all over the world. At that time, every family was like a great enemy, every night the sleeping clothes were not untied, and the most valuable gold and silver jewelry, passbooks and other items were carried close to the body, and the sky above the new forest was filled with a thick and pungent smell of smoke. At that time, our family raised their own chickens, and my parents put eggs into two iron buckets and dug two large pits in the backyard of the house and buried them, saying that they would not starve after the fire had passed. It can only be said that God blessed, in the end, this wildfire did not have much impact on the New Forestry Bureau.
From the beginning of the fire to the end of the extinguishing, a total of 25 days and nights have passed, which is why the documentary "Twenty-Five Nights and Days" has been created. The most impressive thing was that the PLA soldiers who participated in the fire fighting fell asleep tired in the open air, and there were still snowflakes in May in Daxing'anling, and the ground was still frozen, and because they came too quickly and did not understand the climate and environment of Daxing'anling, they almost did not have a quilt cover, and only a shovel was resting under their heads. More than thirty years ago, the material foundation of our army and our country was still far from being so abundant and so powerful today, and it was completely dependent on manpower and will to win the battle of fighting fires.
After the unremitting bloody struggle of the military and the people, the mountain fire was extinguished. Before long, the train skins on the Xing'an Ridge began to continuously transport burning wood outwards, and the logs with dark skin and not completely burned were transported to all parts of the country, just like the people of Xing'an Ridge who lived the rest of their lives, continuing to dedicate a little bit of strength to the construction of this country.
Every spring before and after the five or six fires, due to climatic reasons and the characteristics of production and life, there will be fires of different sizes on the Daxing'an Mountains, and every spring, various units will organize forestry workers to go into the mountains to fight fires, and the awareness of fire prevention has not been relaxed in the slightest. It is strictly forbidden for families above the fifth level of wind to cook over an open flame, and the fire brigade will raise a yellow flag in the most obvious place, on which is written the word "fire" of Dou Da. Once the flag is raised, fire trucks patrol the streets and alleys, regardless of whether there is a fire or not. This kind of day will last for two to three months, and the forest people call this period "fire prevention period". However, due to the influence of the natural environment and production methods, the size of the fire every spring is still inevitable, and people are accustomed to mountain fires.
After the 56th fire, every spring on May 6th, various forestry bureaus will hold various activities to commemorate the fire and leave a warning for future generations. Since elementary school, the school has held various commemorative activities every year, shouting slogans on the streets, holding fire prevention knowledge quiz competitions, and holding fire prevention knowledge speeches. Entering the forest area fire prevention first, rice can not be eaten for a day, fire can not be prevented for a day, the spring wind is dry grass and trees, and the forest fire prevention should be tightened. Long after being away from home, the memory of these slogans is still clear. This is not just a memory of the slogan, but an immortal memory of that period of history.
Salute to the SOLDIERS soldiers and ordinary people who contributed and sacrificed for the mountain fire fighting more than 30 years ago!