Premier Li Keqiang said in an instruction that authorities must spare no effort to treat the injured and extinguish the forest fire with effective measures.

He added that lessons must be drawn from the multiple recent forest fires so that potential hazards can be prevented and monitoring and early warning can be strengthened.

The raging forest fire, which started at around 4 pm on Monday at Jingjiu township in Xichang, killed 18 firefighters and a local guide and injured three other firefighters. They were on their way to fight the fire on the city's Lushan Mountain when a sudden change in wind speed and direction surrounded the group with flames, officials said the survivors told them.

As of early Tuesday, the blaze covered an area of around 1,000 hectares.

At 1:30 am on Tuesday, the group was reported missing. A search and rescue operation was ordered, and at about 7 am on Tuesday, three firefighters were found alive and transported to a hospital, where they were reported in stable condition, officials said. The bodies of the others also were found.

The fire also forced the evacuation of over 1,200, officials said.