A fire is threatening a virgin forest in the northern Da Hinggan Mountains, according to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional government.
The fire occurred at Aliya forestry farm in Uma, one of the Inner Mongolia's three virgin forestry centers, but the exact time is unknown.
The fire has been wrecking havoc to about 80 hectares of trees, and the fire line extended about four kilometers.
The regional government, Da Hinggan Mountain Forestry Department and Da Hinggan Mountain Forestry Police have sent 500 people to fight the fire.
The accident site, however, is hard to reach. It's about 60 kilometers away from roads and the parachuted fire fighters have to walk eight kilometers before arriving at the site.
Two helicopters have been parachuting fire fighters, but only eight people could be on aboard one helicopter each time.
Local observatory predicts it will be clear and windy in the coming two days, adding more difficulty to the fire fighting.
The section of Da Hinggan Mountains in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region boasts the largest virgin forest in China. The region's three virgin forest centers, Uma, Qiqian and Yong'an, report about 946,000 hectares of virgin forest.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2005)
