Two big fires broke out in two packaging factories located in two neighboring cities of north China's Hebei Province Friday morning.

No casualties have been reported so far, local government said.

One factory is located in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, and the other one is located in Luquan, a city neighboring Shijiazhuang in the west. Both of the two factories are owned by the Hebei Aika Packaging Material Group, headquartered in Luquan.

The first fire took place at 2 a.m. Friday in the warehouses and workshops of the company's Luquan factory, a two-story building storing plastic packaging material, witnesses said.

"It will take hours to extinguish the fire," said Jiang Hongxin, chief of the firemen, adding that a fire like this one has been rarely seen in recent years in the city.

A total of 206 firemen with more than 30 fire engines have rushed to the scene to put down the fire, Jiang said.

The other fire broke out in the company's paper Shijiazhuang factory at around 7 a.m. Friday, and it has been put down by 10 a.m.

The cause of the two fires is under investigation.

According to sources with the company, the two fires were "very odd," and someone might have started the fires on purpose.

Local police have begun looking into the incident.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2005)