Raging Forest fire reignites in northeast China mountains*

02 May 2007 14:39:21 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, May 2 (Reuters) - A raging forest fire in a remote border
region of northeast China flared anew on Wednesday, hours after it had
apparently been brought under control, Xinhua news agency reported.

Some 8,700 people and 10 helicopters were mobilised to battle the blaze
in the Great Xingan Mountains, near the Russian border in Heilongjiang
province, after the alarm was sounded on Monday.

The fire appeared to have died down in the early hours of Wednesday,
Xinhua said, but by the afternoon winds gusting up to 60 km per hour had
revived the blaze.

Firefighters had remained in the area but forecasts for continuing
strong winds would threaten their efforts to bring the fire under
control, Xinhua said.

In 1987, a fire in the heavily forested mountain range killed at least
200 people and destroyed some 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of
timberland in three weeks. It was China's worst blaze in decades.

In Inner Mongolia, meanwhile, about 90 firefighters were working to
bring a second blaze under control, Xinhua said. It was unclear how much
acreage had been lost to the flames.