Irresponsible picnickers: Fire erupts on Margallas

The fire was put out by around 10 CDA staff members who were on hand, says official.

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) was able to control a small fire that broke out in the Margalla Hills on Sunday evening within a couple of hours. The fire erupted around 7pm some two kilometres from Pir Sohawa, after burning coals used for barbecue by a group of picnickers ignited dry pine cones nearby, Muhammad Arshad, an operator at the CDA Margalla Control Room told The Express Tribune. Arshad said the fire was put out by around 10 CDA staff members who were on hand. CDA fire trucks could not have helped because they cannot drive up the steep road to Pir Sohawa due to the weight of their 10,000-litre water tanks, said Muhammad Bilal, a CDA fire brigade staffer. The CDA contained the fire within a circle with the help of thick tree branches and then beat the fire with the same branches to extinguish it, Arshad said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2013.