Another fire breaks out on Margallas

Fire broke out again this time near the popular eating spot at Pir Sohawa.

ISLAMABAD:

A heavy fire erupted on the Margalla Hills on Monday and continued into the evening, reducing a large swathe of trees to ash. The cause of the fire was stated as extreme heat by the fire department.

Fires have regularly been breaking out on the hills for the last three weeks due to extreme heat and dryness, with the current blaze still active when this story was filed.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) Fire Department Director Asif Majeed claimed that the department is doing its best to extinguish such fires.

“Our firefighters have been working hard for the last three week and we succeeded in extinguishing [the earlier fires]… it’s a natural occurrence and due to the extreme heat, they are started up again and again,” he added.

When asked why the fire could not be doused completely, he said high temperatures and dryness were the main reasons, adding that the civic agency has “professional firefighters with the latest equipment”.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2012.