Referring to the blazes in the Greater Hinggan Mountain Forest in Northeast China, Wen said they needed to be on high alert while conducting fire control work and take measures to prevent any possible fires.

While about 10,000 people were still fighting the forest fires yesterday, a source from the Heilongjiang provincial government said they were being brought under control.

Ironically, the fires started along a belt which is regularly burned to prevent outbreaks.

Given this year's scant rainfall, exceptionally dry air and rising temperatures, the forest was tinder-dry, a local forestry administration official said.

The fires are thought to have been ignited by an underground spark, a remnant of previous prevention activities along the belt, the source said.

The fires are currently burning in dry marshland and on roadsides. Extinguishing the blazes will be difficult given the complex geographic features. The spot fires are covering a large area, most of which is just below the surface, the source said.

Residences and adjacent forests have so far been spared.

More than 2,000 policemen are assisting to fight the fires.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)