Firefighters succeeded on Tuesday night in controlling two
forest fires that had been raging since early Monday in northeast
China's Heilongjiang Province.
Firefighting efforts had been stymied by strong winds and dry
weather in the Daling and Baiyun forestry plantations in Heihe
City, forestry officials said.
By 10 PM Tuesday, firefighters had extinguished the blaze in
Baiyun and brought the Daling fire under control after a 40-hour
battle.
The winds are expected to ease greatly on Wednesday and it is
predicted to be overcast, which would help a great deal, according
to Jin Qiang, provincial deputy head of forest fire prevention.
More than 2,000 firefighters were mobilized to tackle the
fires.
Authorities are surveying the damage and investigating the cause
of the fires, Jin said.
The long dry spell has resulted in 23 fires in Heihe, accounting
for 74 percent of the total number of fires in Heilongjiang since
March 15.?
(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)