THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As summer begins, human-made fire outbreaks from burning waste and shrubs are giving hard times to fire and rescue officials in the state capital. Precious resources are wasted, as every fire station in the district puts down five to six such outbreaks every day. Interestingly, almost all of them are triggered by passersby and miscreants, and the number of cases increases every summer. “No special fuel is needed to burn waste in summer. So people randomly trigger blaze when they see premises with bushes or fires. All fire stations like Chenkalchoola, Attingal and Nedumangad receive close to six such distress calls daily,” said district fire officer P. Dileepan.
Last year such a blaze had engulfed 60-acre pasture land at Manavur near Attingal. Similarly, 44 acres of land was burnt at Sheela Estates, Nedumangad. Controlled burning of waste can be done responsibly by setting fire on smaller heaps of waste or weed under watchful eyes, say officials. “Fires in the city were reported at Mannanthala, Thirumala, Paruthippara, Veli and Poonthura among others,” said a fire official. In plantations, a special kind of creeper, ‘thoottapayaru’ becomes a fuel. It catches fire quickly, and the smoke and ash it creates is darker, say officials.
