9 firefighters die battling China wildfire
9 firefighters die battling China wildfire
05 March 2011
published by www.upi.com
China — A wildfire in southwestern China was completely subdued by Saturday morning but not before nine firefighters perished, a local fire official said.
It took 1,140 firefighters to put out the deadly blaze on Jianchuan Mountain in Yunnan province, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Wan Yong, deputy commander of the provincial forest fire prevention authority, said some firefighters were still monitoring the situation to guard against flare-ups.
Local authorities said the doomed firefighters became trapped Thursday when winds reignited an area that had been smoldering. Several others were injured, Xinhua said.
The fire started accidentally started Wednesday by a woman from Jinchang village, who was burning corn stalks on some uncultivated land surrounded by weeds when gusting winds pushed the flames out of control.
