Photo taken on March 30, 2020 shows forest fire in Muli County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua)

 
The forest fire that recently scorched about 270 hectares in southwest China's Sichuan Province might have been accidentally started by a boy with a lighter, local authorities said Sunday.

At around 2:00 p.m. on March 28, an 11-year-old boy in Muli County under Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture used a lighter to ignite pine needles and branches to smoke a squirrel out of a hole, said the police.

The fire began to spread and finally broke out at 7:30 p.m. The provincial forest fire brigade sent over 600 professional firefighters to aid the local efforts.

The fire was put out on April 6.