Sundarbans blaze: Fire Service to begin work Sunday

Two units of the firefighters reached the site but did not start their work as it became dark

Two units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence have reached the site of a blaze in the Sundarbans, but they will start working on Sunday morning due to nightfall.

The Department of Forest and villagers earlier contained the fire in the Amurbunia area of the Chandpai range in Bagerhat on Saturday afternoon.

Divisional Forest Officer Kazi Muhammad Nurul Karim of Sundarbans East said workers of the department and villagers promptly responded after seeing the smoke to fight the flames using water from the Bhola River.

They sprayed water wherever they saw flames and smoke, but stopped when it became dark.

“The fire hasn’t caused much damage and there’s no reason for panic,” Karim said.

It was unclear how the fire started and what kinds of plants are in the area.

The mangrove forest is situated in the southwest of Bangladesh, a region most affected by a relentless heatwave.

The Sundarbans houses the world's largest mangrove forests, which are home to a wide range of flora and fauna, including the Royal Bengal Tiger.

Locals said the fire spread to an area of about 1.5 kilometres.

Saiful Islam, chairman of Nishanbaria union council of Morelganj Upazila, said around 200 villagers rushed with water in vessels to the site after seeing the smoke. “It’ll take time to put out the fire.”

“At least 300 villagers will join the work to douse the fire in the morning. It is our duty to save the forest, which is our asset. We’ll douse the fire as early as possible,” he said.

Farrukh Hasan Jewel, secretary general of Bagerhat unit of the Oil Gas, Power, Port, Protection National Committee, said the fire might have been triggered by extreme heat and fuelled by methane gas produced from fallen leaves.

Villagers also ignite fire sometimes while collecting honey or twigs, he said.

Farrukh recalled a previous strategy of creating a controlled burn to prevent the spread of fires in the Sundarbans.

"Reapplying this technique could help control the fire swiftly,” he advised.