Five forest fires have taken place on China's northeast border
over the past three days, with three of them still burning as of
Monday.
The fires have ripped off approximately 660 hectares of forests
in the city of Heihe, Heilongjiang
Province, without no casualty reported, according to a source
of the local government.
A total of 2,128 firefighters and five helicopters have been
sent to extinguish the fires, and three of the fires are still out
of control as of Monday night.
In fact, the forests in the northern part of Heilongjiang were
continuously ravaged by fires in summer because of a lasting
drought, but there were not much loss thanks to the protection from
the local forestry department, said a spokesman of the government,
adding a gale that began on Saturday, however, aggravated the fire
potential.
The gale is expected to last until Tuesday, according to the
local meteorological department.
"The situation of fires is still severe," the spokesman
said.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2005)