Firefighters succeeded on Tuesday night in controlling two forest fires that had been raging since early Monday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Firefighting efforts had been stymied by strong winds and dry weather in the Daling and Baiyun forestry plantations in Heihe City, forestry officials said.

By 10 PM Tuesday, firefighters had extinguished the blaze in Baiyun and brought the Daling fire under control after a 40-hour battle.

The winds are expected to ease greatly on Wednesday and it is predicted to be overcast, which would help a great deal, according to Jin Qiang, provincial deputy head of forest fire prevention.

More than 2,000 firefighters were mobilized to tackle the fires.

Authorities are surveying the damage and investigating the cause of the fires, Jin said.

The long dry spell has resulted in 23 fires in Heihe, accounting for 74 percent of the total number of fires in Heilongjiang since March 15. 

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)