THENI: A forest fire has broke out in Periyakulam area of Megamalai forest range, and owing to high wind speed the flames spread fast over the green cover. District forest officer J R Samartha on Tuesday said teams of fire and rescue personnel have been deployed in the area and they are taking all efforts to douse the fire.
As the mercury has begun to sour ahead of the summer season, flash fire incidents are being frequently reported from the forest areas in Theni district over the past couple of weeks. Forest ground fire incidents were reported in several areas, including Muyalparai, Ulakkurutti, Pichangarai and Koranjani, last month. Forest department officials are deputed across the reserve area to closely monitor such incidents and take efforts to extinguish the fire in the primary stage itself.
On Tuesday, fire and rescue teams from Megamalai range were deployed to douse the fire in Periyakulam. Locals said the forest fire had been raging for over two days now. District forest officer Samartha said all the recent fire incidents were reportedly ground fires, wherein only the dry grass gets burnt. The previous fire was put out before it spread to over 1-1.5 hectares.
"The department has adequate fire equipment to handle major fires. Since the present one is just a ground fire, the personnel are using water buckets and branches to put it out. We are closely monitoring the forest areas to prevent such incidents," he said.