A car caused a fire in a large nature reserve in Mongolia. The fire once approached China's border, and more than 3,400 people in Inner Mongolia were on high alert.
On October 8th, a grassland fire occurred in the Numrug Strictly Protected Area, located in the easternmost part of Mongolia. Local officials stated that approximately 80% of the protected area was affected. After several days of efforts to extinguish the fire, the Mongolian authorities announced in the early hours of the 12th that the fire had been controlled.
The fire was caused by a car driven by employees of a Mongolian telecommunications operator owned by a Japanese company. The involved company has admitted that the vehicle started a fire and ignited the grassland, but why these people entered the remote protected area and whether they obtained the necessary permits remain the focus of the local investigation.
In the easternmost part of Mongolia, there is a landmass that juts out towards Inner Mongolia in China. The Numrugg Nature Reserve, located in the Hor-Hara River Sumu of the Eastern Province of Mongolia, lies here.
This is not a desolate Gobi desert, but a transitional zone between the forests and grasslands of the Daxinganling Mountains and the dry grasslands of the Mongolian Plateau. It is covered with forests, meadows, river valleys, and vast grasslands.
Sketch of the fire zone location
Numlug Conservation Area was established in 1992. The Protected Planet database currently records a conservation area of approximately 5,877 square kilometers, which is more than 90% of the area of Shanghai.
After a fire broke out at the Numulug Nature Reserve on the 8th, the fire spread rapidly due to dry vegetation and strong winds. Mongolia deployed personnel from various provinces to fight the fire. According to a Mongolian news agency report on the 12th, the fire spread about 96 kilometers from east to west and approximately 82 kilometers from north to south, affecting about 80% of the reserve.
Partial photos of the scene after a fire in the protected area, Mongolian iKon.mn news website
As the fire spread, the border areas of China also entered a state of alert.
On October 9th, a fire was detected in the border area of Dong Ujimuqin Banner, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, China. Affected by wind, the fire front moved towards China, and areas such as Xing'an League are also facing the threat of fire from abroad.
The Chinese side quickly initiated emergency responses, organized fire rescue and local firefighting forces, and deployed defenses in sections along the border.
Xing'an League has used satellite remote sensing and meteorological monitoring methods to track the fire situation, and has also carried out artificial rainfall augmentation operations.
On the 12th, the National Emergency Management Department of Mongolia reported that the fire was brought under control at 00:55 on that day.
According to CCTV News, as of the morning of the 13th, there are still intermittent fire lines in parts of Mongolia. There are no open flames or smoke spots within the visible areas along the border. More than 3,400 firefighters are closely monitoring the fire situation and strengthening their defenses along the line to prevent the fire from spreading into China.
As the fire gradually came under control, Mongolian media revealed a key detail: the cause of this grassland fire was actually a car.
The people riding this car are employees of Mobicom, Mongolia's leading communication operator. The controlling shareholder of this company is the Japanese communication giant KDDI Group.
According to a statement released by Mobicom, on October 6, company management traveled to Eastern Province in Mongolia to participate in activities related to the high-speed fiber optic network project at Sumu Bere port. After completing work related to the 4G network at border checkpoints and the fiber optic communication project at the port, the group continued to investigate the operation status of the local communication network and the conditions for future construction.
On October 8th, a vehicle carrying staff caught fire on the way, and it ignited the surrounding grassland. Mobicom confirmed this incident in a statement later.
Mobicom represents a car that was set ablaze within a protected area, causing damage to Mongolia’s iKon.mn news website.
Mongolian media further revealed that the vehicle involved in the fire was a Nissan Truck off-road car. The accident may be related to the hay getting caught under the vehicle and burning. However, this claim has not yet been officially confirmed.
The vehicle fire is just part of the controversy. The issue of allowing corporate personnel to enter the Numrugg Strictly Protected Area has also been questioned by local officials and the media.
According to Mongolian newspaper Eagle News, Shao Yol, the governor of Eastern Province, said at an emergency meeting that it is still unclear whether the relevant individuals received permission to cross the border or permission to enter the natural reserve. He asked the emergency department and police to conduct a joint investigation.
A commentary in the Mongolian newspaper Өдрийн сонин suggests another possibility: these businesspeople may have planned to go fishing in the protected areas, rather than just inspecting communication facilities. This claim has not been confirmed by the police or the companies involved.
The incident also involved Mongolian politician U. Otgonbaiar. Since he participated in related communication projects, there are doubts about whether he was involved in subsequent activities.
Otgonbaiar denied being at the fire scene, stating that he was attending a parliamentary meeting in Ulan Bator on the day of the fire. The General Department of Border Guards of Mongolia also issued a statement on the 14th, saying that Otgonbaiar had left after attending related activities on the 6th, and was not present at the scene when the fire occurred. The border guards also denied claims that Otgonbaiar had been drinking or engaged in hunting activities as reported online.
However, whether the fire in the vehicle was caused by human negligence, and what responsibilities the company and related personnel should bear, still requires the conclusion of the investigation.
The eastern part of Mongolia has long been a high-risk area for grassland fires. The climate here is dry, with strong winds in spring and autumn. Combustibles such as dead grass are widely distributed, and once a fire source appears, the flames can spread rapidly.
The fire ignition point is approximately 485 kilometers away from Qiba City, the capital of Dongfang Province, and about 125 kilometers from the center of Halaha River Mu. It is located in a remote area, making it difficult to mobilize personnel and equipment. In addition, changes in wind force and the complex terrain further increase the difficulty of firefighting efforts.
Wildfire is also a prominent issue faced by Mongolia in recent years.
According to data released by the State Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia, as of October 11, there have been 172 forest and grassland fires in Mongolia this year. Of these, 134 were grassland fires, accounting for about 80% of the total cases. The affected area was at least 1.169 million hectares. The fires resulted in 1 death, 2 injuries, and property damage worth approximately 7.9 billion Tugrik, which is equivalent to about 16 million yuan.
The fires were mainly concentrated in the eastern part of Mongolia, with 61 incidents in Eastern Province, 39 in Suhobor Province, and 28 in Kent Province.
It is worth noting that wildfires in Mongolia are not solely caused by weather factors; human negligence is also a significant cause.
The procuratorial authorities in the Eastern Province of Mongolia have pointed out that common human causes of grassland fires include unextinguished cigarette butts, indiscrimate dumping of furnace ash, and accumulation of hay near vehicle exhaust systems that is not promptly cleared away.
In March 2023, the Mongolian police reported five fires on the steppe in the provinces of Eastern Province and Khovdor. Preliminary investigations revealed that the causes of the fires included grass accumulation under car tires, random disposal of furnace ash, and loss of control during garbage burning.
At that time, the police also specifically reminded drivers to install fireproof devices in the exhaust pipes, in order to prevent fires on the dry grasslands.
A study published this year in the international academic journal Environmental Research analyzed satellite fire observation data from the Mongolian Plateau over the past 20 years. The study found that the frequency of fires in Mongolia has generally decreased, but the average size of fires has increased. In contrast, the average size of fires in Inner Mongolia, China, is smaller, showing different trends.
Another study published in the journal RemoteSensing in 2023 suggests that the accumulation of combustible materials in grasslands can also affect the scale of fires. The study indicates that in some pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia, the autumn harvest of forage for winter use reduces the amount of combustible materials on the ground. In contrast, in some grasslands in Mongolia, the forage is not harvested in autumn, and dead grass accumulates on the ground, providing more combustible materials for future grassland fires.
The National Emergency Management Department of Mongolia has also repeatedly warned the public not to burn garbage and hay in the wild. Special attention should be paid when driving through grasslands to prevent fires from being caused by vehicles.
