There was no respite from forest fires in the Kasauli area as temperatures soared to a sweltering 32°C on Wednesday.
In a fresh incident, a massive forest fire broke out near the Mandodhar forest area on the Dharampur–Mangoti Mor road in the early hours of the morning.
The fire department at Parwanoo received a call at 3.32 am, following which a team rushed to the site with a fire tender. It took nearly six hours to bring the blaze under control as the fire had spread rapidly through the forest due to the presence of dry and highly inflammable pine needles.
Rich in resin, pine needles act like tinder, and once ignited—often by the negligence of passersby—the fire spreads quickly, posing a serious threat to nearby habitations.
Santosh Sharma, Commandant, Home Guards, Solan, said a team from the Parwanoo fire station was immediately dispatched after information about the fire was received in the wee hours. The blaze was eventually controlled after six hours of intensive firefighting efforts.
With several tourism units located nearby, panic gripped hotel staff and local residents as the fire spread across the hillside. Since most hotels in the area depend on water tankers or borewells to meet their daily requirements, they had little water available to tackle such emergencies. Huge plumes of smoke and flames rising from the hill triggered concern among residents.
Sharma further informed that another forest fire was reported from the Basal forest area in Solan later in the evening, where smoke could be seen billowing from a considerable distance. Another firefighting team was dispatched to the spot to contain the blaze.
