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. 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. China, despite its shortage of advanced firefighting equipment, sent over 60,000 soldiers and workers to try and extinguish the fire. It remains the deadliest forest fire in the People's Republic of China.Īlthough both countries were affected heavily by the fire, China and the Soviet Union responded very differently. In addition, 33,000 Chinese were made homeless. A total of 191 people were killed by the fire, and a further 250 were left injured. 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. Whatever the causes were, the resulting firestorm quickly gained momentum, fueled by high winds in the region. 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.' 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. 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. These conditions were ideal for a large wildfire to occur. 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. The Black Dragon fire originated in the coniferous Da Hinggan Forests in the Greater Khingan Range, a mountain range in northeastern China. It was one of the largest wildfires ever to occur, and the largest to strike China in over 300 years. About 266 people were wounded and 211 died in the fire leaving 50,000 homeless. The fire covered about 10,000 km 2 (2,500,000 acres) of which 6,500 km 2 (2,500 sq mi) was forest it destroyed 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) of forest, including one-sixth of China's entire timber reserves. The burning lasted almost a month, when it was finally stopped on June 2, 1987.

The fire broke out in Daxing'anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang on May 6, 1987. The 1987 Black Dragon fire, also known as the 1987 Daxing'anling wildfire ( Chinese: 大兴安岭特大森林火灾) was the deadliest forest fire in the People's Republic of China. Major wildfire in China and the Soviet Union

Black forest fire