High altitude forest fire put out in Tibet

Firefighters have successfully put out a high-altitude fire which razed dozens of hectares of virgin forest in Tibet, local police reported.

More than 260 firefighters, aided by 1,000 police personnel and local people, battled the fire for five days. The fire started on Tuesday night in Konjo County of Qamdo Prefecture, in the eastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Dry and windy conditions helped the fire spread over 46 hectares of forest located at an altitude of 4,900 meters, a Xinhua report said.
The fire was reported under control by Sunday noon, when police left the scene. No casualties or local property damage were reported, although the cause of the fire was still unclear.

Konjo County has the second largest forested area in Tibet, with 142 hectares of primary forest.