Likely cause of fire discovered

The Beijing police announced on Sunday that six local residents are believed to be responsible for a mountain fire in Beijing's suburban Miyun district, which was extinguished on Sunday morning.

According to local media, the six people were repairing a water pipe in a forest area of Gaogezhuang village, Dongshaoqu county, Miyun, on Saturday and accidentally set the weeds under the pipe on fire.

The fire started around noon and spread to Pinggu district at about 1 pm, pushed by strong winds, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

The Beijing government sent 600 firefighters and the ministry called up a firefighting team of 300 from Tangshan city in nearby Hebei province to put out the fire.

No deaths or injuries from the fire were reported.

Another forest fire broke out in Shanxi province's Qinyuan county at around 1:10 pm on Friday. Strong winds spread the blaze quickly. More than 3,800 people were evacuated by 7 am on Saturday, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. No deaths or injuries were reported.

About 360 hectares of forest area were burned down, and more than 1,700 firefighters have been dispatched. The fire had been contained, local authorities said.

"Forest and grassland fires happen frequently in the spring," said Cui Honghao, deputy head of the fire prevention and management department of the ministry.

He said the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and China's northeastern provinces are on the alert for fire outbreaks, and the ministry has strengthened communication between related departments for fire control and adopted a 24/7 duty system to monitor and predict danger.

Cui said the causes of all fires should be determined, and those responsible for them should be strictly punished.

Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on April 5 this year, is a day when many Chinese observe the tradition of offering sacrifices to their ancestors by burning joss sticks and paper, and this can pose difficulties for fire prevention authorities.

Camping and outdoor cooking also increases in the spring, and illegal fires in farm fields also add risks.

The ministry reminded the public to be careful not to start fires during picnics or drop lit cigarette butts onto the ground.