Fatal forest fire put out
Fatal forest fire put out
06 March 2011
published by www.shanghaidaily.com
China — A FOREST fire that killed nine firefighters in Yunnan Province was extinguished by yesterday morning, a local fire control official said.
The fire on Jianchuan Mountain in Yunnan’s Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture had been controlled on Friday evening, however, 1,140 firefighters continued putting out sparks to prevent the wind from reigniting the fire, said Wan Yong, deputy commander of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Prevention Authority.
Firefighters were keeping a close eye on the site as a precaution, Wan said.
Authorities said the wind reignited a smoldering fire on Thursday, trapping some people battling the fire, nine of whom were later killed. Seven others were injured.
They said the fire was accidentally started on Wednesday by a woman who burned corn roots on uncultivated land surrounded by weeds.
