Yesterday's rainfall, though eagerly awaited because of the drought, failed to make an impression on forest fires in central Taiwan which, according to the Cabinet's special reaction committee, continued to burn out of control.
Cabinet spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (
Responding to the impression left by the committee and news reports that the situation remained dire, Chuang said "It's absolutely not true that the fire is out of control as the media have reported. The fire will soon be brought under control as the remaining 13 hectares of forest still ablaze are extinguished."
As of press time last night, fires had been extinguished over 114 hectares of forest, leaving only 13 hectares ablaze.
"The fire is burning out of control. It is burning new areas. The rain has made no difference," Wu Shu-hua (
A press release from the committee said that strong winds, which have continued since Tuesday, were responsible for the spread of the fires.
"The rain has been light on the mountain. As we speak, more fire barriers are being created to prevent the fire from spreading even further," she said.
Meanwhile, a Central Weather Bureau official told the Taipei Times last night that there had been less than 5mm of rainfall at Lishan.
The fire continued to spread yesterday along a north-easterly course.
Meanwhile, the army yesterday issued a statement strenuously denying Chinese-language media reports that over 100 soldiers had been "nearly stranded" by the fire at Lishan as they sought to bring it under control.
"Nobody was stranded and we really have no idea where the report came from," said Lin Huai-chung (林懷忠), an army spokesman.
The blaze has affected 178 hectares of forest, 123 hectares of which have been destroyed in the five days since the fire began, Chuang said.
A total of 1,333 people, including firefighters, an airborne fire brigade and army troops have been mobilized to battle the blazes.
As of yesterday, five firefighters had been treated for minor injuries.
The habitat of an endangered species of fish, the Formosan landlocked salmon, near a preservation area at the Sheipa National Park and in the Chijiawan Stream,appears to have been spared by the blaze, Chuang said.
The preservation center has about 900 artificially inseminated Formosan landlocked salmon, while the stream currently houses about 400.
Police are still investigating the cause of the fire and preliminary investigations have shown that it may have broken out after farmers burned weeds in the area's pear orchards.
Lishan is an area noted for pear production.
In addition to expressing his personal gratitude to firefighters, Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who toured the disaster area by helicopter and car yesterday morning, expressed his hope of formally inaugurating the new airborne fire brigade as soon as possible.
The brigade, which began operations a few months ago, is scheduled to be officially inaugurated in June.
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