Forest dept likely to use helicopter to douse Alandurai fire
COIMBATORE: Coimbatore forest department will seek the use of helicopter to control a fire that broke out in Nadhegoundanpudur near Alandurai two days ago. A team of 40 personnel has been battling to put off the fire in a 50-hectare area, which is full of dry grass.
The area falls under Bolampatti reserve forest in Madukkarai and the fire was noticed on Tuesday evening. Sources said the fire is fast spreading downhill where there are more dry patches. N Jayaraj, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore, said, “The rocky terrain is very steep and inaccessible.
We are trying to prevent fire from spreading downhill. The rock portion is a continuous stretch of about 150 hectares in which about 50 hectare is burnt already. Since the rocky area is inaccessible, the blaze could not be controlled.” He added,
“We have discussed with the collector about the idea to deploy helicopter to spray water and control the fire. He has assured full support. We will deploy helicopter on Thursday morning if the fire is not controlled by then. Burnt grass is falling downhill like fire balls which increases the spread.”