20160328 Philippines Forest fire sends tourists fleeing from Mt. Apo
Philippines Mar 27 2016 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Forest fire sends tourists fleeing from Mt. Apo
Updated: 2016-03-28-00:00
The fire reportedly started as a grass fire but has since spread.
A raging fire on Mt. Apo, the country’s highest mountain, forced hundreds of people to flee from the peak on foot, officials said yesterday.
Firefighters dug ditches that were seven feet deep in order to contain the blaze, which began Saturday afternoon and was ongoing 24 hours later, and to stop it from spreading on the tourist hotspot of Mt. Apo.
There were no reported injuries and nearly all of the 1,000 tourists who were on the mountain were evacuated by noon yesterday, provincial disaster official Harry Camoro told AFP.
It is common for searing summer temperatures to start fires on the mountain, Camoro said. The cause of the blaze had not been determined.
Air Force helicopters were deployed yesterday to survey the damage, he added.
Mt. Apo, located in Mindanao, is home to forest reserves and the breeding ground for the endangered monkey-eating eagle.
Sonny Dizon, proprietor of the Mt. Apo Highland Resort located in Kapatagan, Digos City in Davao del Sur, said the blaze hit the forested area and spread toward Lake Venado.
Dizon said should the blaze continue, the country stands to lose one of its remaining forested areas.
The Protected Area Management Board limited the number of Apo trekkers to 1,000 during the Holy Week to prevent the occurrence of grass and forest fires.
The rivers in the area have dried up because of El Niño and the low water supply made the mountain vulnerable to forest fires.
Dizon said the drought should have warned authorities not to allow climbers to the peak.
He said the slash and burn activities of kaingeros threaten the forest of Mt. Apo.
Dizon stressed the need for more forest guards to protect the mountain, noting that only one ranger has been assigned at the Kapatagan area.
“The forest ranger is already 60 years old and has no vehicle or whatever that he could use to go after those kaingeros,” he said.
Fires hit Mt. Kanlaon
Meanwhile, on Negros Island, two forest fires broke out in Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park during the Holy Week.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the first blaze occurred on Thursday when a kitchen fire was left unattended in a house in Barangay Biak Na Bato in La Castellana.
A report from ABS-CBN News website said the flames quickly spread to nearby areas around the park, leaving at least 50 hectares of land damaged.
The second blaze occurred at the boundary of the villages of Mananawin and Pula, both located in the park, on Friday afternoon.
The blaze, believed sparked by a cigarette butt, burned around 120 hectares of cogon and shrubs.
Firefighters had difficulty putting out the blaze, which occurred on a higher part of the mountain.
Residents had to use tree branches to prevent the fire from spreading.
The blaze was put out on Saturday morning.
Personnel of the DENR were placed on alert yesterday, to monitor other grassfires that might occur in the area.
The agency said no one was reported injured as alert level 1 remained hoisted prohibiting entry within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone of the mountain.
Web Source: Philstar
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2016/03/28/1566754/forest-fire-sends-tourists-fleeing-mt.-apo