Visakhapatnam: IAF helicopters doused a fire at the Kambalakonda wildlife sanctuary on Friday, averting a major mishap as the area is filled with dried trees following Cyclone Hudhud. The fire had spread over 100 acres.
Major part of the fire was controlled by Thursday 1 am by the forest and fire department officials, but the risk of a reignition was high.
Principal chief conservator of forests A.V. Joseph said due the presence of the dried trees, the officials could take no risk.
Following instructions from Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, chief secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao contacted the defence secretary at Delhi and IAF officials at Hyderabad for helicopter assistance.
According to an IAF release, four MI-17 V5 helicopters, equipped with 3,500-litre Bambi buckets, were pressed into action.
The four helicopters poured over 1 lakh litres of water on the fire till it was doused. Conservator of forests, Visakhapatnam, A. Bharat Kumar said, the copters used water from the Mudsarlova and Gambheeram reservoirs.
There are at least eight residential areas around the hill where the fire started.Forest officials said the fire was man-made and suspect the cause to be oil lamps lit for Karthika Poornima. This is fourth such manmade fire on the hills post-Hudhud.
