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The forest fires that have plagued the northern Greater Hinggan Mountains in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are now under control, according to the State Forestry Administration.
A spokesman for the administration, who preferred not to be identified, said yesterday that all the fires have been segregated and firefighters are trying to extinguish the remaining flames.
Once segregated, the fires have no chance to spread, the spokesman said. "What we are doing now is to wait until the fires burn out and then we will clean up the areas."
After the fires burn out, firefighters will carefully examine the areas to see if there is any burning ash left, the spokesman said.
So far the fires have not caused any casualties, he added.
The fires have been raging since the end of July in some areas in the Greater Hinggan Mountains, where the largest virgin forests of the country lie. They were caused by lightning strikes.
Some 5,000 firefighters have been working around the clock with the help of a modern monitoring system that can tell how fires are developing, the spokesman said.
( China Daily August 10, 2002)
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