Bellowing smoke: Fire burns deodar trees in Chitral

CHITRAL: Hundreds of Deodar trees reportedly burnt down when Sanjrat forest in Ayun, Chitral was engulfed by fire on Monday. “Fire erupted in the forest due to which some trees burned down,” Ayun Sub Divisional Police officer Muhammad Asif told The Express Tribune. He refuted that the number of trees affected was in the hundreds, he said only 12 trees were torched. Asif added seven staff members of the forest department and 15 locals tried to stop the fire from spreading. “The fire erupted in compartment no 5 in the forest; compartment no 2 also caught fire two days ago,” said Asif. He said locals came to collect pine nuts and lit fires in the forest to cook food. “They forget to douse the flames.” Asif said they are investigating the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2015.