Forest fire in southwest China that killed 31 people caused by lightning, investigation says

A forest fire in southwest China last month that killed 27 firefighters and four helpers in one of the country’s deadliest days for first responders was caused by lightning, investigators said.

Acting on accounts of eyewitnesses in Sichuan province’s Muli county, investigators identified an 18-metre (59-foot) pine tree split by lightning as the origin point of the blaze, which happened in a remote area at an altitude of about 3,800 metres.

After igniting the tree, the fire spread to the thick layer of decomposed plant material on the ground.

The 31 people died after wind, dry air and combustible material created an explosive effect. A firefighter who survived the blaze said it advanced so quickly that trees on the ridge were consumed within seconds, with flames rocketing up as if “someone triggered a huge flame-thrower”.

Most of the dead were in their 20s, although at least two were teenagers. One had recently married.

China has been battling forest fires in recent weeks in various parts of the vast country, including on the outskirts of Beijing. Dry weather and high winds across many northern areas are feeding the flames.

On March 30, more than 2,000 rescuers and firefighters tackled a blaze in Beijing’s Miyun district, which burned 50 hectares of forest, while in Shanxi province, 1,500 firefighters battled a fire that started on March 29 and destroyed nearly 3,000 hectares of woodland.

No casualties were reported in either incident.

The Sichuan disaster was the worst for Chinese firefighters since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and other first responders.