IWMB staffers battle fire incidents in Margalla hills

Islamabad:Two fire incidents occurred in the Margalla hills in the last couple of days but the official guards extinguished the fire on both occasions only with the help of tree branches.

According to the eyewitnesses, the staff members deputed by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) immediately rushed towards the spots and collected tree branches to control the fire.

No fire-fighting equipment was available there due to difficult terrain but the staff members did not lose heart and continued their efforts. One of the witnesses said it took them three to four hours to extinguish the fire but their immediate response helped avoid big damage to vegetation and forest cover in the Margalla hills.

The availability of fire-fighting equipment on inaccessible spots of the Margalla hills has been a consistent problem due to which the official guards often found it difficult to tackle with the fire incidents.

An official said the reason for fire incidents was yet not known but they were trying to identify the factors that caused the fire in the forest. He said: “The number of fire pickets has been increased from 15 to 35 and fire tenders along with 50 officials of the emergency and disaster management have also been deputed at Pir Sohawa to work in different shifts.”