Some 6,000 fire fighters are battling a forest fire that is just 20 kilometers from Kunming, the capital city of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Cao Qingyao, spokesman for the State Forestry Administration (SFA), said yesterday the fire, which has been burning for eight days, has scorched nearly 666.67 hectares of forest in a suburb of Anning City. No casualties have been reported.

Cao said that while the western front of the fire has been brought under control it has spread with amazing speed to the eastern part of the forest, which is only 20 kilometers from Kunming.

The fire fighters are cutting a 53-km-long, 50-meter-wide fire break to prevent the fire from spreading to the capital.

About 700 nearby residents have already been relocated by the local government.

Jia Zhibang, head of the SFA, urged the fire brigade leaders to devise a plan to extinguish the fire, safeguard the lives of nearby residents and ensure the safety of fire fighters.

Police have detained a suspected arsonist but the woman in her 20s and clearly not a local could not even provide basic information like her name and address. They plan to send her to local psychiatric facility to check her mental health.

Police have placed notices in local newspapers seeking information on relatives or friends of the woman.

The General Office of the State Council issued an urgent directive on Tuesday ordering localities to take substantial steps to prevent forest fires following a series of them in some parts of the country.

It gave special warnings to local governments and other relevant departments in the country's northern and southwestern areas that have experienced dry weather.

Fire fighters should be organized in a scientific way, so as to put out fires safely and efficiently, while avoiding casualties among themselves, it says.

It also called for improvements to forest fire control headquarters at different levels to help mobilize troops and police forces in the fight against forest fires.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2006)