A forest fire is raging out of control in northern China and is
fast approaching a town with a population of over 4,200.
Firefighters are working to block the blaze.
The fire, moving east with the strong winds, was about 10
kilometers away from Honghuaerji Town in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by Wednesday
evening, according to firemen at the scene.
The local government has worked out a plan to evacuate people in
case of an emergency.
Around 2,400 police and firefighters are on their way to
reinforce the 1,400-strong firefighting team to stop the fire from
spreading.
The town is comprised mainly of Ewenki, Mongolian, Han, and Hui ethnic minorities.
Fire control headquarters said that rockets have been prepared
to make it rain during the night in a bid to tame the fire by early
Thursday morning.
The blaze, which broke out on Tuesday evening as a result of
lightning, had engulfed more than 10,000 hectares of camphor pine
forest in the Ewenki Autonomous Banner of Hulun Buir City by
Wednesday afternoon.
No casualties have been reported, according to the local
forestry bureau.
Persistently high temperatures of about 28 degrees Celsius,
strong winds, thick grass cover in the oil-rich camphor pine
forest, and a weak fire control infrastructure have made
firefighting difficult, according to officials with the local
forestry bureau and firefighting headquarters.
The state-level nature reserve, covering 119,000 hectares of
land, is China's largest virgin camphor pine forest.
The State Forestry Bureau has issued an emergency circular
saying that northeastern China and Inner Mongolia, which are prone
to forest fires in spring, are to beef up fire prevention and
forest administration efforts.
(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2006)