Fire fighters have halted the spread of a forest fire that swept across at least 1,600 hectares of woods in southwestern Sichuan Province, local government announced Thursday.

No casualties were reported.

The fire, which was caused by an explosion detonated by local geological surveyors, broke out at the Muli Tibet Autonomous County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan at 4:00 PM June 1, according to the provincial forest fire control office.

More than 3,000 firefighters were organized to put out the fire through artificial rainfall and other means.

"The fire in most areas was extinguished and about 1,900 people are putting out the ember. The area of forest burned and exact losses are under investigation," said an official with the office.

Muli County boasts the largest forest reserves in Sichuan. This is the third forest fire in the area in the past three weeks. The previous two fires were put out on May 24 and May 28 respectively.

The destroyed forest is located on a mountain ridge about 3,200 meters above sea level. Hot and dry weather conditions also add to the difficulties in fire fighting, said the official.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2005)