Forest in northwest China mountain catches fire

XI'AN, Dec. 9 (Chinese media) -- A mountain forest in northwest China's Shaanxi

Province has been ablaze for nearly 20 hours and at least 100 forestry workers

are still working all-out Tuesday to extinguish the fire.

The fire started in the weeds and bushes near the Huangfu Valley in the

renowned Mount Hua at 1:30 p.m. Monday, a clerk with the mountain's management

committee told Chinese media in a telephone interview.

She said the committee and the local government sent a fire fighting team

to the site shortly after smokes and flames were detected.

"But it was impossible to put out the fire right away because the place was

extremely steep," the clerk said on condition of anonymity.

A second team was sent to the fire site at 5 a.m. Tuesday, she said. "Until

now, I can still see thick smokes through the windows of my office."

She said no casualties had been reported so far and the cause of the fire

was being investigated.

Mount Hua, in the Qinling Mountain Range, is about 100 kilometers east of

Xi'an, the provincial capital. It is one of China's five renowned Taoist

mountains and has several influential Taoist temples.