Smoke billow out from a forest reserve which caught fire around Mount Cangshan, a well-known scenic spot in Yunnan Province, southwest China, on Thursday, March 8, 2007. [Photo: China Foto Press]

A forest reserve around Mount Cangshan, a well-known scenic spot in Yunnan Province, southwest China, caught on fire on Thursday.

The fire started on a mountain behind Jiangfeng Temple early Thursday and quickly spread over 133 hectares of forested land, according to Duan Li, Mayor of Dali, in the Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali.

More than 3,000 people have been enlisted to help extinguish the blaze as Duan fears the fire may spread faster than expected due to the dry and windy weather conditions.

Firemen are using the squirt guns to shoot the burning fire and villagers are using branches, buckets, scoops and hoes to put out the smouldering fire.

Force three to seven wind in the area hampers the firefighting efforts and the fire is still rampant.

Tourists in the region are not affected as the fire is 20 to 30 kilometers from the ancient city of Dali, said Duan, who is directing the fire fighting work.

So far, no casualties have been reported.

With an area of nearly 80,000 hectares, the Cangshan and Erhai National Nature Reserve, is one of the most famous scenic spots in the province.

The cause of the fire remains unclear.

Another forest fire, which is believed to be caused by arson by initial investigations, broke out in Laoqingshan Mountain in the provincial capital of Kunming at around 10:20 a.m. on Thursday.

The fire spread over 13.3 hectares of forested land and was put out at 2:40 p.m.

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