A bush forest in a small Tibetan county has been on fire since
midday Sunday, and the rescue work is extremely difficult because
the site has no water supply nearby.
Fire broke out at 12:50 PM Sunday in bushes of Tingri County in
Xigaze, at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, or the Everest.
By midday Monday, the fire had destroyed more than 100 hectares
of bushes, an official with the county government told Xinhua in a
telephone interview yesterday.
The official himself had not been updated about the latest
situation, because the fire site is very far from the county seat
and has poor access to communication.
But he did say that high wind started to beat the bushes at 2:00
PM Monday, which would make the rescue work even more
difficult.
A forestry team from the Xigaze Prefecture has arrived at the
fire site, and the local forestry police and more than 600
voluntary fire fighters are working all-out to put out the
fire.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2006)