The NDRF men use sticks and green branches to beat back the forest fire in Uttarakhand.
Quick Take
Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed.
Pine cones are like grenades, they burst and spread fire, the men say
Some fear for friends on the next hill, as the fire there is much larger
The number of active fires has slowly dwindled over the last 24 hours
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.
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