Volunteers power fight against forest fires

All the forest fires in Chongqing municipality had been extinguished by Saturday, nine days after the fires first broke out in Fuling district there before spreading to other districts.

It took the joint effort of firefighters on the front line and volunteers to make the mission a success. During the nine days, volunteers on foot carried chilled water in bottles for the firefighters on the front lines, some volunteers driving taxis ferried volunteers to the bases for free while many volunteers ferried firefighters on their two-wheelers to areas where automobiles could not reach.

The success in extinguishing the fires in Chongqing illustrates the power of volunteers. It is not very difficult to arrange volunteers thanks to smartphones and other new technologies. Most volunteers in Chongqing rushed to the site on hearing about the need for help on WeChat groups.

Social media's success has helped disseminate information faster while popularizing volunteering too. The China Volunteers website run by the Ministry of Civil Affairs has already had a record 25 million visits. Volunteering is increasingly being accepted as a good choice.

According to a blue paper issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on June 24, the number of registered volunteers had grown from 2.92 million in 2012 to 217 million in 2021, while the number of volunteer teams increased from 20,000 to 930,000.

When the fire was still raging in Chongqing, a night photo taken from above became a talking point on social networking sites.

On the left of a hill was a yellow line of the forest fire, on the right a blue line of firefighters' and volunteers' flashlights. Some commented saying "Man vs Forest Fire". Clearly, the humans emerged winners. It is a victory of firefighters and volunteers alike.