Knuckles on fire

Chamikara Weerasinghe

A forest fire that broke out in the Knuckles Range has burnt down 200 acres of natural forest and Forest Department managed pine plantations.

Deputy Conservator of Forests, K.P.Ariyadasa yesterday said, they were yet to determine the damage caused by the fire. The fire had lasted for about six hours, according to District Forest Officers.

”The forest officers have managed to suppress the fire with the help of the villagers in the area,” he said. Ariyadasa said , “the District Forest Officers informed me about the fire in the morning (August 3) and there has been no damage to human life by it, as the incident was reported to me by our District Forest officers. Except that one forest officer had suffered a minor injury as he was trying to douse the fire,” he said.

”It appears that somebody has deliberately set fire to the grass at midnight,” he said and added , “ “the forest fires in Sri Lanka are caused by humans and carelessness is attributed to all of them one way or another.”

“ There are no dry thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions to cause forest fires in the country,” he explained.

“The fire has spread uphill because of the dry weather and the wind. It is extremely dry and windy in the Knuckles this season,” he said.”

The Forest officers have detected the fire at midnight.

The fire had spread to our pine cultivations, but there was no damage caused to the big trees in the forest.

The fire had been put out soon enough by our officers and the villagers in the area,” said Deputy Forest Conservator Ariyadasa. ”Fire has spread underneath the pine trees burning the grass,” he said.

Asked why that a person would set fire to the forest, a district forest officer said , the villagers sometimes burn grass in order to obtain fresh grass for cattle and this could cause the fire to spread.