With two of the remaining fires coming under control, only three wildfires were still burning, according to sources with the fire prevention office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government.

More than 5,000 local people, including 1,500 forest rangers, have been mobilized for firefighting. No casualties have so far been reported.

The fires, which started on July 27, were mainly caused by lightning strikes. Experts also blamed the incessant dry, hot weather in the region.

Officials from the firefighting command at the scene said that firefighters were confident of bringing all the fierce blazes under effective control within the next one or two days.

However, they also warned that new fires could start at any time if no substantial rain occurred in the near future.

Aircraft were ready to create rainfall but the unfavorable weather conditions in the region made an immediate mission impossible, officials said.

A huge forest fire hit the Greater Hinggan Mountain range region in 1987, causing enormous losses worth hundreds of millionsof US dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2002)