The eyes of the forest

Man spends more than three decades on the lookout for fire

Huang Tongwei, who is 55 years old this year, is a fire lookout on the west peak of the city of Rongjiang, in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province. He is responsible for detecting forest fires in an area of more than 80,000 acres and for preventing theft in some of the forested areas. Whenever he discovers a fire, he promptly reports it to the Rongjiang County Forest Fire Command, and the county organizes firefighting teams to deal with it.

Since coming here in early 1992, Huang Tongwei has been stationed in the mountaintop lookout tower. His wife, Wu Zaiqiong, is his capable assistant.

"Observing fires is not a tiring work, but you can't be careless," Huang said, especially during the dry seasons of spring and winter. Huang and his wife take turns eating and sometimes they have to bring their food to the lookout tower to eat and observe at the same time.

"Only by standing on the lookout tower can we feel at ease. We are like the forest's eyes, seeing dangers that others cannot," Huang said.

During his 31-year tenure, the forested areas under Huang Tongwei's remit have not experienced any large-scale forest fires or incidents of illegal logging.

Because of his diligent and responsible work, Huang has been repeatedly recognized as an "advanced worker" by the county and the Qian-Gui Forest Fire Joint Command. In 1999, he was named a "National Excellent Rural Forest Ranger" by the then national forestry bureau.