Wind fanning flames of fatal blaze
Source: Shanghai Daily |
March 5, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HIGH winds are fanning the flames of a mountain blaze that killed nine firefighters and volunteers in southwest China's Yunnan Province, frustrating efforts to put it out, a fire control official said yesterday.
A woman farmer blamed for triggering the fire has been detained by police.
Wan Yong, deputy commander of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Prevention Authority, said earlier that firefighters had contained the fire but told Xinhua news agency later that winds had picked up making it difficult to extinguish the fire.
The blaze had turned a 135-hectare area to charcoal in a mountainous region which fire engines were unable to access, he said.
About 1,000 firefighters aided by two helicopters are fighting the fire, which has been contained in a mountain area 4 to 5 kilometers from the nearest village in Jianchuan County in the Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, Xinhua said.
Li Ping, 32, has been detained. Li set fire to corn roots on her farmland at about 9am on Wednesday, but the fire got out of control when it spread to dry grass and bushes, prefecture officials said.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control on Wednesday. However, when they were cleaning up the site on Thursday afternoon, high winds caused the fire to reignite, stranding firefighters and volunteers, Xinhua said.
Nine of them were killed and seven injured. The dead were three firemen and six volunteers.
A woman farmer blamed for triggering the fire has been detained by police.
Wan Yong, deputy commander of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Prevention Authority, said earlier that firefighters had contained the fire but told Xinhua news agency later that winds had picked up making it difficult to extinguish the fire.
The blaze had turned a 135-hectare area to charcoal in a mountainous region which fire engines were unable to access, he said.
About 1,000 firefighters aided by two helicopters are fighting the fire, which has been contained in a mountain area 4 to 5 kilometers from the nearest village in Jianchuan County in the Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, Xinhua said.
Li Ping, 32, has been detained. Li set fire to corn roots on her farmland at about 9am on Wednesday, but the fire got out of control when it spread to dry grass and bushes, prefecture officials said.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control on Wednesday. However, when they were cleaning up the site on Thursday afternoon, high winds caused the fire to reignite, stranding firefighters and volunteers, Xinhua said.
Nine of them were killed and seven injured. The dead were three firemen and six volunteers.
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