Forest fire breaks out in northern China

TAIYUAN -- A forest fire broke out in Qinyuan county, northern China's Shanxi province at around 1:10 pm Friday, local authorities said.

Firefighters were dispatched to quench the blaze immediately after the fire started, but strong winds helped the quick spread of the blaze, according to sources with the provincial headquarters for prevention of forest fire.

Satellite monitoring data showed the fire had spread over an area of 28.6 square kilometers by 6 pm Friday.

The provincial government is attaching great importance to the situation and firefighters from other places are rushing to the site, the sources said.