More than 150 Forest Department personnel from Nilgiris, Pollachi, Coimbatore and Udumalpet forest divisions have been deployed in Coonoor to fight the forest fire in Forest Dale near Black Bridge in the Nilgiris forest division, which has been spreading for the past four days.
According to S. Gowtham, District Forest Officer (Nilgiris division), the fire was spreading among a patch of cypress trees, non-native to the Nilgiris landscape, in the reserve forest. Mr. Gowtham said that an assessment of the total area that had been destroyed by the fire had yet to be made, but he estimated that the blaze has destroyed around 20-30 hectares of non-native forest. “The fuel load is quite high due to many wind-fallen trees, which, combined with lack of access to the area is leading to difficulties in containing the fire,” he added.
The Forest Department has requested the use of Indian Air Force operated helitankers to help put out the fire, officials added.
Working alongside Forest Department staff and officials are personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services, who are isolating patches of burning forest and putting out the flames in an effort to contain the blaze.
Officials said that efforts to contain the fire will continue till the fuel load depletes and the fire eventually fizzles out due to a lack of combustible material. The unusually high summer temperatures, combined with a lack of rainfall this year has contributed to the scale of the fire, officials added. Efforts are also being undertaken to prevent communities living near reserve forests from clearing agricultural and pastoral land by starting fires, officials said.
Forest Department personnel from other divisions will be assisting the 50 personnel from across Nilgiris forest division already on the ground and working to extinguish the fire.
