20200218 Tamil Nadu: Fire breaks out in Uthumalai; trees, herbs damaged
India Feb 20 2020 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Tamil Nadu: Fire breaks out in Uthumalai; trees, herbs damaged
Updated: 2020–02–20
SALEM: Fire broke out in Uthumalai in the city on Tuesday night, destroying trees and herbs spread across a few acres. The forest department is yet to ascertain both the cause of fire and the extent of damage caused by the same.
According to a senior forest officer, local residents saw fire raging in the hills at night and alerted the forest department and Shevapet fire service station officials, who sprang into action to put it out and prevent it from spreading to more areas.
Quoting residents, the officer said thick smoke started to emanate from the hill area around 11pm on Tuesday. “The residents could feel the stench of burning dried trees and other waste material. The fire soon started to spread.”
He said they had removed dry leaves in the surrounding areas of the incident place to prevent fire from spreading to other areas.
“We, along with the fire and rescue services personnel, managed to put out the fire on Wednesday morning. An inquiry is on to identify whether it was a natural fire or man-made one,” the officer said.
Uthumalai is situated near Seelanaickenpatty in the city.
Web Source: The times of India