A fire is raging in a virgin forest in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, but no casualties have been reported, a local official said Wednesday.

 

The fire broke out at about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday in the virgin forest near the county seat of Bomi in Nyingchi Prefecture. Local firemen immediately rushed to the site, said Gyaincain, deputy chief of the local fire brigade.

 

The fire was not very big when they arrived at the site, but it rapidly gained strength and has spread to nearly seven hectares, he said.

 

"It has not rained in the past few days and the air is dry under the blazing sun, which gave the fire momentum," he said.

 

Nyingchi has had rare high temperatures over the past month. On July 17, the temperature hit 31.2 degrees Celsius in Bomi, equaling the historical record.

 

The wind started to blow in the evening and made it more difficult to put out the fire.

 

More than 400 people, including firemen, army soldiers, forestry police, armed policemen and citizens from the county seat are combating the fire.

 

As the fire gathered strength, fire fighters were unable to put it out with water and are now digging a ditch and cutting down nearby trees to stop it from spreading.

 

Bomi is about 680 km east of the regional capital of Lhasa. It covers 16,000 square km and has a population of 31,000. The county seat is situated at Zhamog Town. Bomi administers 11 townships and 111 villages.

 

Investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2006)