Cabbies warmed many people's hearts when they rushed to evacuate students and residents free of charge after a fire broke out on Qipan Mountain in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, last Tuesday, Beijing Evening News reported.

The fire started at about 1:50 pm and expanded quickly as the wind blew at a speed of 12.8 meters per second.

Students of He University, situated at Mt. Qipan Scenery Tourism Development Zone, and residents living nearby needed to be evacuated for safety reasons.

Many cabbies rushed to Qipan Mountain and transported people away free of charge.

"We don't know if the university has enough vehicles to send students away, so we came as soon as we heard the news," said Zhang Shengjun, a member of Fushun Leifeng, a voluntary cab-driver team. "We’re waiting outside the school gate to see if we can offer some help."

"My cellphone was out of power and I didn't have my ID or cash with me, so I was very worried," a student at the university said. "But I saw many cabs waiting when I walked out of the university and heard they would evacuate us for free. I was moved."

Many students said their eyes turned red with tears when they heard a voluntary team leader say through a loudspeaker "Kids, listen to me".

Over 16,000 people living nearby have been evacuated but no casualties have been reported, the city's firefighting division said Thursday morning.