Two people were killed and two others were injured in fires on Thursday that engulfed part of the forest in the southwestern Guizhou Province, local sources said.

Two fires broke out around 4 p.m. in the Pengjiazhai and Fujiagou villages in Bijie city. The former was put out at 11:20 p.m. while firefighters are still trying to extinguish the other one.

Temperature in Bijie was 24 degree Celsius and the wind retarded firefighting work.

Six villages and townships in the Xuyong county of Luzhou in neighboring Sichuan province also reported forest fires since 4 p.m., while three others in the Gulin county reported fires after 6:30 p.m.

No casualties were reported, while size and cause of the fires were yet known.

China was plagued by a drought and weather was dry in many areas. Forest fires in the eastern Fujian and Jiangxi provinces delayed more than a dozen trains on Thursday, cutting off power supply and blocking highway.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2009)