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William Zheng

More than 1,000 firefighters and seven helicopters have been deployed to battle a forest fire raging in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan.
The fire started around 5pm on Friday near Baizi village in Yajiang county in Sichuan’s Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Garze, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Strong winds on Saturday afternoon fanned the blaze, which quickly spread over multiple mountain ridges, it added.
The ministry declared a level-4 emergency response, the lowest alert for fire control in forests and grasslands, and dispatched 1,260 firefighters from national and local fire rescue squads.
Chinese state media blocked from blast site, raising press freedom debate
According to state broadcaster CCTV, a total of 3,396 villagers from a dozen villages were evacuated.
It said the firefighters resumed their operations on Sunday morning after they were forced to leave the scene on Saturday night due to strong winds and poor visibility.
The joint command headquarters on Sunday morning divided them into three groups to cope with the spread of the fire after the latest information on the wildfire’s probable path became available.
The command centre said another 800 Sichuan firefighters would arrive at the site to reinforce the operations on Sunday, while 750 firefighters from neighbouring Yunnan province were also on their way, bringing additional command and communication equipment, rescue vehicles, wind-powered fire extinguishers, water pumps, high-pressure water mist guns and other supplies.
There have been no reports of casualties so far.
A resident of provincial capital Chengdu, located 500km (311 miles) from the site, said the wildfires turned the sky orange on Saturday.
“The sky suddenly turned frighteningly orange in Chengdu. It felt like an apocalyptic disaster movie,” the resident said, declining to be named.
“At first, I thought it was a rare sandstorm from the north before I watched TV news about the huge wildfire in Yajiang county.”
Official news agency Xinhua reported that a photovoltaic power station in the region had not been affected, but communication with a hydroelectric station had been interrupted.
A section of a highway that passes through the region has been temporarily closed.

In a separate blaze, Yunnan province reported that three residents died while helping firefighters extinguish a wildfire in Quanei township in Lincang on Saturday evening.
The official statement said 110 people were deployed to put out a forest fire that broke out around 6pm on Saturday. The flames were extinguished at around 11pm after burning out more than 5 hectares (12 acres) of forest.
Other parts of southwest China, including Guizhou province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were hit by bushfires last month. The Ministry of Emergency Management said they were mainly caused by dry weather and “misuse of fire” during the Lunar New Year holiday, a popular time to burn paper offerings to ancestors.
From February 10 to 21, a string of 221 forest fires, including 11 large mountain fires that claimed two lives, spread across parts of Guizhou.
A total of 15,000 residents joined 9,200 firefighters to combat the Guizhou fires, according to local authorities.
Guizhou police detained 10 people for illegal use of fire in mountainous areas, which sparked blazes that killed two firefighters.


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China

Chinese authorities send more than 1,000 firefighters to Sichuan province to battle fire that has spread across mountains
No casualties have been reported so far, but nearly 3,400 villagers have been evacuated and the blaze has shut down a section of highway


Chinese authorities send over 1,000 firefighters to Sichuan province to battle fire that has spread across mountains, but no casualties have been reported so far.


Wildfire rages in southwest China as strong winds and poor visibility disrupt firefighting efforts

Chinese authorities send more than 1,000 firefighters to Sichuan province to battle fire that has spread across mountains No casualties have been reported so far, but nearly 3,400 villagers have been evacuated and the blaze has shut down a section of highway

Chinese authorities send more than 1,000 firefighters to Sichuan province to battle fire that has spread across mountains

No casualties have been reported so far, but nearly 3,400 villagers have been evacuated and the blaze has shut down a section of highway