A grassland fire that spread from Mongolia to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region this week was declared under control yesterday, whilst 140 people left homeless by a forest fire in neighboring Heilongjiang Province have been given shelter, according to local sources.

Xing’an League’s fire control office said the grassland fire had been put out by 4 PM apart from sporadic fires beyond the isolation belt on the Mongolian border in the Arxan City region.

Satellite photos taken on Monday morning had shown the fire in Mongolia to be nearly 100 kilometers long, and the local government said it dispatched over 800 firefighters and forest police to fight it as it crossed into China.

The houses of the 140 people in Heilongjiang were destroyed by a 110,000-hectare fire started by foresters trying to create a fire prevention belt at the weekend. No casualties have been reported, according to the provincial forest fire prevention headquarters.

The blaze, in Huma County, was reported to be under control by China Daily yesterday, but at one point had threatened 25 nearby villages and three forestry farms.

The local government sent 21 tents, warm clothes and other daily necessities to those left homeless.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2005)