A forestry centre caught fire on Friday in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. More than 400 armed policemen were dispatched to the Zhanhe Forestry Centre to fight the fire.

According to Wang Chuntai, head of the forest brigade of the armed police detachment in Harbin, the provincial capital, the fire was advancing at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour towards two tree farms, Xingfu and Lixin.

More than 3,000 people and their property were threatened.

After working for one night, they brought the fire under control and safeguarded the two farms, he said.

Monitoring aircraft reported that the fire broke out in three areas.

One of the fires, on the Fendou Farm, was expanding, he said, adding that dry, clear and windy weather made it difficult to extinguish.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.