A mountain forest fire with smokes seen in Southwest China's Chongqing on Monday Photo: VCG

Several mountain forest fires have been reported in Southwest China's Chongqing since Thursday due to high temperatures and drought, and so far the fires are under control and no casualties have been reported, Chongqing authorities said on Monday. The "forest chiefs" of Chongqing also released urgent order to strengthen prevention and fighting forest fires, to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

More than 5,000 personnel from rescue teams, armed police, forest firefighters, and other departments and seven helicopters have been dispatched for rescue and relief efforts. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated so far. The mountain forest fires have been effectively curbed and no casualties have been reported, the post fire clean-up and investigation is underway, according to the authorities.

Chongqing faces the most serious extreme high temperatures since 1961, and the mountain forest fire points are detected around steep mountains, where together with the air turbulence caused by huge wind fluctuates, great difficulties have been added in firefighting, said the authorities.

Weather forecasts say the hot weather in Chongqing will continue for the coming days, with the highest temperatures to reach over 40 C.

Since Thursday, the regions including Jiangjin, Dazu, Tongliang and Banan have seen mountain forest fires continuously. According to the urgent order released by the "forest chiefs" of Chongqing on Monday, a 24-hour duty was required to prevent non-native residents from entering into the mountains. 

A strengthened management including emergency disposal, intensified inspections, wildfires control and orderly rescue has been carried out to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

China has appointed nearly 1.2 million "forest chiefs" amid the country's continuous efforts to protect forests and grasslands, according to the forestry authority in July.