A scene of the forest fire captured by netizens, with a passing high-speed train nearby. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The open flames of a forest fire in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, were extinguished by Monday morning, with no reports of casualties, according to local forest fire command authorities.
The fire broke out at 12:45 pm on Sunday in Taojunkeng of Qingyuan, close to the Qingyuan station of the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway and the Zhouxin station of the Qingyuan-Guangzhou intercity railway.
Upon the fire's outbreak, local fire command authorities swiftly activated the emergency response plan. A temporary command center was set up on-site to coordinate efforts, with real-time adjustments made to resource deployment. A firefighting and rescue team of approximately 1,039 personnel was mobilized to combat the blaze.
The operation also utilized three helicopters, 14 fire trucks, 20 water trucks, around 310 fans and approximately 800 fire tools, including ignition torches.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Local emergency management authorities had previously announced that Qingyuan has been experiencing unusually dry conditions since October, with precipitation levels 71 percent lower than the annual average. The city has recorded no rainfall since December, resulting in moderate to severe meteorological drought conditions across most of the region.
Qingyuan has been under a red alert for forest fire risk for the past 15 days, and the alert is expected to remain in place. Officials warned that the prolonged dry spell and heightened fire risk have significantly increased the threat of forest fires in the area.
