Investigation committee formed as firefighting efforts begin in the Sundarbans

“Scattered fires are burning and it will take time to extinguish them,” a Fire Service official said

The Fire Service has begun an operation to extinguish the Amarbunia forest fire in the Chandpai Range of the eastern Sundarbans in Bagerhat.

Five firefighting units from Bagerhat and Khulna started work around 8am on Sunday, said Saidul Alam Chowdhury, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service Baherhat office.

The Department of Forest also formed a three-member committee to investigate how the fire started, how far it spread, and the extent of the damage.

The Navy, Coast Guard, police, and the local administration also joined the firefighting efforts. The Navy and the Coast Guard, in addition to the Fire Service, are also using ‘modern’ fire extinguishing equipment to combat the flames.

On Saturday afternoon, forest department workers saw smoke rising from the Amurbunia area. They rushed to the scene and tried to extinguish it. They were soon joined by locals.

In the evening, three firefighting units and police arrived at the scene, but they decided to hold off on launching firefighting operations in the dark and waited until the morning.

“Water from the Bhola River in the Sundarbans is being piped in and used to extinguish the flames. Scattered fires are burning. It will take time to put them out.”

Kazi Mohammad Nurul, the divisional forest officer for the East Sundarban Division, and other administration officials and public representatives have visited the scene since the fire started.

Nurul told the media on Saturday night that the fire had spread to an area of about 1.5 square kilometres. However, he added that the fire did not cause much damage and there was nothing to panic about.

An investigation will be conducted into the fire and details would be made available, he said.

The probe committee has since been formed and it is being led by Rana Dev, assistant forest conservator of the Chandpai range.

The committee must submit their investigation report in seven working days, Nurul said.

“The Fire Service is taking water from the Bhola River in the Sundarbans and using it to put out the flames. The water is being sprayed wherever smoke can be seen.”

“In addition to the Fire Service, forest department personnel and local villagers are working to douse the fire. As there is no water source nearby, we must work quickly to put out the fire. We are having to bring water from nearly 2 km away. They will keep working until the fire is completely extinguished. They will work all day today.”

The fire is also being monitored to prevent it from spreading to a new area, he said.