$6 million earmarked for China forest fire-fighting

BEIJING -- An emergency fund of 40 million yuan (about $5.8 million) has been allocated for the forest fire-fighting efforts in north China, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Saturday.

The fund was allocated Friday to local authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where the fire spread across more than 11,500 hectares of forest, the MOF said in a statement.

By noon Friday, the emergency response team, consisting of more than 9,400 firefighters, police and civilians, had put out the fire, which broke out Tuesday in Bilahe Beidahe Forest in the Greater Hinggan Mountains.