File photo: Xinhua

 
A grassland wildfire in Mongolia, which broke out on Sunday in its border province Sükhbaatar and was spreading to China on Monday at midnight, has been put out, said the Mongolian National Emergency Agency. Open flames close to the Chinese border have all been blocked outside the fire barrier. 

The local emergency department in Sükhbaatar received the fire alarm at around noon on Sunday, the People’s Daily reported, and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to deal with the incident. 

A total of 21 vehicles and more than 200 personnel arrived at the scene, but encountered difficulties extinguishing the fire due to the strong winds at the site. 

On Monday morning, the agency announced on its official website that the grassland fire has been extinguished, after burning an area of approximately 1,800 square kilometers.

All open flames that had been spreading close to the Chinese border have been blocked north of the border patrol lane and the fire barrier, according to local emergency department in Xilingol League, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which neighbors the starting point of the fire in Sükhbaatar. 

Chinese rescuers in Xilingol League are still on site to observe the situation, the Xinhua News reported on Monday.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Spring is a season of high incidence for forest and grassland fires in Mongolia due to the windy, dry weather and less rainfall. According to statistics, there were 121 forest and grassland fires recorded in Mongolia in 2019, 11 of which occurred in Sükhbaatar.

Global Times