A huge forest fire broke out yesterday in Ham Rong Mountain of Pleiku City, in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, threatening the operation of two transceiver stations.

Fire breaks out in Ham Rong Moutain forest. — Photo dantri.com.vn

The fire, which started at 11am yesterday, destroyed at least 3ha of pine forests, Management Board Director of Bac Bien Ho's protective forest Nguyen Duc said later yesterday.

The two transceiver stations belong to Gia Lai Province's Radio and Television Station, and Viba Station of Telecommunications Network servers.

Local armed forces, policemen, foresters and people immediately joined in the fight to extinguish the blaze. However, due to the hot weather and lack of rain, the fire raged with formidable force and spread fast.

The local fire fighters could not stamp out the fire till 4pm yesterday. The fire continued to flare up because of strong winds.

Tran Van Luong, chief of the fire-fighting police, said three fire trucks with 30 policemen of Gia Lai Province fought to extinguish the forest fire.

The wide area over which the fire spread and poor terrain obstructed the movement of the fire fighters, Luong said, adding, "We (fire fighters) had to give priority to the fire that raged close to the two transceiver stations."

Ham Rong Mountain is a tourist spot in Gia Lai Province and has an extinct volcano.