Forest fire rages in southwest China province
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E-mail Xinhua, March 19, 2012
A helicopter and more than 1,000 people have been dispatched to help extinguish a forest fire that continues to rage in southwest China's Yunnan province, local authorities said Monday evening.
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A firefighter tries to put out forest fire spread to Caopu Township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 19, 2012. [Xinhua] |
![A firefighter tries to put out forest fire spread to Caopu Township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 19, 2012. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120320/0014222d985010d2268e12.jpg "A firefighter tries to put out forest fire spread to Caopu Township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 19, 2012. [Xinhua]")
A rescue team consisting of 1,075 military personnel and civilians was sent to the site of the blaze Monday evening, local authorities said.
The fire, which broke out at 5:25 p.m. Sunday in Yimen county, defied overnight firefighting efforts and spread through the county's mountainous forests to Caopu township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming, said a spokesman from the provincial forest fire prevention headquarters.
A helicopter and five excavators from the nearby city of Dali have been mobilized to help fight the fire.
A severe drought has lingered in Yunnan for three consecutive years, causing water shortages for several million residents and creating fire risks.
Yunnan is China's second most heavily-forested province, with a total forest coverage of 47 percent.
