Fires in Tibet
Tibet forest still aflame
5January 2006
The bush forest fires in a Tingri county near Xigaze, at the foot of Mount Qomolangma (Mt Everest) have not been brought under complete control by Thursday after two days of rescue work.
Strong winds, dangerous mountain landscapes and no water sources within two kilometers made the rescue work especially difficult.
The fires were put out on Thursday after two days of fighting but the gales were strong enough to revive any sparkles in the forests. Consequently the fires were dispersed at the steep mountain slopes and valleys embedded in snow-covered mountains.
The fire occurred about 50 kilometers from Mount Qomolangma with a fire front of almost 15 kilometers of forests in length, and about four kilometers away from some virgin forests in a natural reserve around Mount Qomolangma.
Latest MODIS scenes showing the fire in Tibet
AQUA
6 January 2006
07:30 UTC
click on image for a 500 m resolution
This false-color image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 6 January 2006, shows the Himalaya mountain range dotted with active fires (red dots) and burn scars from recent fires (brownish red patches).
See also other fire events in the Himalaya region:
For more information on the use of fires and wildfires in the Himalayas see:
Schmidt-Vogt, D. 1990. Fire in high altitude forests of the Nepal Himalaya. In: Fire in ecosystem dynamics. Mediterranean and northern perspectives (J.G. Goldammer and M.J. Jenkins, eds.), 191-199. SPB Academic Publ., The Hague, 199 p.
