Some 10,000 people are fighting fires in the Greater Hinggan Mountain Forest in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
A dozen fires have erupted along a belt where trees and grass are regularly burned to prevent forest fires.
Given this year's scant rainfall, exceptionally dry air and rising temperatures, the forest was dry and prone to fires, said the local forestry administration.
The fire is thought to have been ignited by an underground spark remaining from the previous fire-prevention activity at the belt, said the source.
Fires are currently burning in dry marshland and on roadsides. Putting out the fires is difficult given the complex geographic features and the sporadic fires covering a large area, most of which are underground, said the source.
Residences and adjacent forests have thus far been spared.
More than 2,000 armed policemen from the region and from the cities of Harbin, Mudanjiang and Jiamusi have been deployed to fight the fire. Two more teams are standing by.
The region declared a fire alert period starting from March 23, more than 20 days earlier than last year.
(China Daily March 30, 2003)
