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More than 20,000 firefighters are still combating several large forest fires in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The most serious incident is a forest fire in Galashan, Nenjiang County, near Heilongjiang's city of Heihe. It is still burning 10 days after it started on May 21.

The total length of the fire has reached 570 kilometres, while an area of more than 150 square kilometres is on fire, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

More than 5,000 firefighters and five helicopters were tackling the fire, according the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

Meanwhile, forest fires in Kanduhe, which is also in Nenjiang County, and Mianduhe in Inner Mongolia, were also blazing. They started on May 22 and 25 respectively.

The total number of firefighters involved in the three operations has exceeded 20,000.

The dry weather and high temperatures coupled with strong winds have put the vast forested areas in northern China at great risk.

Heilongjiang Province saw a 70 per cent decrease of rainfall in May compared with the same period in previous years, according to local meteorologists.

On Sunday, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao asked authorities to take effective measures to minimize the losses caused by the fire. Hui Liangyu, vice-premier, has inspected the fire front.

The State Council on Monday decided to form a front line command centre with Jia Zhibang, minister of the SFA, as the chief commander.

Jia said that ensuring the safety of firefighters and the safety of villagers living near the fire scene and their possessions is the most important task.

Thirty-four armed policemen who were injured while tackling the blaze were transferred to hospitals in Beijing last Sunday for better treatment, Xinhua reported.

However, the high temperatures, strong winds and intricate geological conditions are adding to the difficulty of the operation.

Meteorologists forecasted strong winds and no rainfall for the next three days. Showers may arrive between June 2 and 4.

(China Daily May 31, 2006)