Strong wind rekindles forest fire in Sichuan

In Li'er village, Muli county, some 350 firefighters have reached the blaze and are cutting down trees to form an isolation belt and trying to extinguish the flame. Another 440 firefighters from neighboring townships are hurrying to the scene, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management's Fire and Rescue Bureau on Sunday afternoon.

To reinforce them, 95 firefighters from the Sichuan provincial forestry firefighting team have been mobilized to join the battle. Two K-32 helicopters and an M-26 helicopter from the ministry's base in Xichang, the regional capital, are conducting reconnaissance and have doused water on the reignited area, China Central Television reported on Sunday.

A K-32 helicopter can carry from 2 to 3 metric tons of water, and an M-26 from 10 to 15 tons. The water source of the K32s is about 1 kilometer from the reignited blaze. As the water source of the M-26 helicopter is far and that of the K-32 helicopters is only about 1 kilometer from the fire, they will be able to refill about six or seven times a day, the report said.