Mandrem cashew plantation burned in huge forest fire

Panaji: A massive fire broke out in a cashew plantation on the hillslopes of Mandrem’s Naikwada on Sunday. The fire, which caused a loss of at least Rs 15 lakh, continued to burn throughout the day as strong winds and lack of access complicated the firefighting operations.

The fire began on the Mandrem-Korgao hill, with the dry grass feeding the fire. The Pernem fire station received a call about the fire at noon. “The entire hill is on fire. Since morning, our vehicles have been on the site to try and put out the fire. Because of the strong wind, it was very difficult to control the fire. The forest is dense, the grass was not cleared, and our vehicles do not reach the spot of the fire because there is no access,” said an official with the Pernem fire station.

The inaccessible location of the fire meant that the hoses used for dousing operations did not reach ground zero of the fire. With a sole fire tender deployed to fight the blaze, firemen had to make multiple trips to replenish the water. The firefighting operations were also hindered when a pilot of an aircraft complained of smoke along the glide path to the Manohar International Airport. The smoke was rising from the Chandel forest, about 6km from the airport, and the Pernem fire station decided to divert its fire truck to Chandel to investigate the origin of the smoke.

“If there is a call of any fire, we have to send our vehicle. So we called for reinforcements from Porvorim to assist with the fire in the cashew plantation,” said the official from the Pernem fire station.

With the mercury rising in Goa, the fire department finds itself spending a lot of time and resources responding to grass fires. On Sunday, there were 13 fire-related incidents across the state, with most of them in Pernem and Tiswadi.