8 Men, 8 Hours: That's What It Took To Douse Fire On 1 Hill Of Uttarakhand

Shithlakhet, Almora: It is a 3-hour trek to the hill where fresh fire has broken out. The eight member team from National Disaster Response Force and 2 forest officials - who have been working through four days and nights -- set off. Chanting Jai Mata Di, they give each other the courage to keep going.

Once at the spot, the men get to work. With just a sickle and a bunch of leaves, they beat back the massive, waist-high flames.

Gaurav Sharma, who joined the Sashastra Seema Bal 5 years ago, is on deputation to NDRF. He had received training in fire-fighting, but challenges on the ground this time are formidable, he said.

"These pine cones are like grenades... They catch fire and topple down the slopes and then burst, spreading the fire. We keep dousing it, yet after some time, it keeps catching up," he explained.

A worried Govind Ram, another NDRF man, fears for his friend. "This is nothing, up that side the fire is so massive our men fear they would get trapped... The winds making it very difficult to fight the fire," he said. So far, five persons have died in fire related incidents.

Forest official Anil, a local, has fought fires here all his life. But this time, the raging inferno has him worried. "We just have these sticks and leaves. At this height, it is not possible to bring in heavy fire-fighting equipment... So a fire of this magnitude gets difficult to manage," he said.

Still, the number of active fires has slowly dwindled over the last 24 hours, as 11,000 personnel were pressed into fire-fighting - up from 6,000. Three Air Force helicopters are augmenting the ground efforts, carrying water from lakes in Bambi buckets and sprinkling it over fires.

After 8 long hours, this team finally managed to control the blaze on this hill. After a 3-hour break, it will be time to take on the next one.