Thailand uses helicopters to fight mountain wildfires

By KAWEEWIT KAEWCHINDA
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities are using helicopters to try to contain a fire that overnight engulfed two mountains on largely undeveloped forest land in a province northeast of the capital Bangkok. The fire broke out Wednesday night in Nakhon Nayok province, 70 miles northeast of Bangkok, but officials said firefighters could not directly tackle it because the mountains are too steep to safely climb, especially in the darkness of night. About 275 acres of forest in Nakhon Nayok had been burned by noon Thursday as the fire continued to smolder. Several other forest fires have broken out in recent days in provinces farther north as seasonal temperatures rise.