Fire in natural resources; Sartang Dehloran on fire

Iran's forests and pastures have seen 15 fires in the past week. In the most recent example, five hectares of the Sartang area of ​​Dehloran were burned. An official says that only 20 percent of fires in the environment are natural.

On Monday morning, June 9, the Sartang pastures, the Kherbazan heights, and the Chalsi and Gol Zard forests of Dehloran were engulfed in fire. The governor of Dehloran says the fire was contained after 4 hours with the help of natural resources groups and public forces, and its extent was estimated at five hectares, according to initial estimates.

The cause of the fire has not been announced, but the public relations officer for the Dehloran governorate has advised people to use nature and forests properly.

Three days earlier, a fire broke out in the Khaiz and Tashan forest areas in Behbahan. The fire, which was said to have been caused by lightning, was difficult to contain due to the mountainous nature of the route and the lack of equipment, including a special helicopter.

The fire in the forest areas of Behbahan also affected parts of the Badil heights of the Takab Strait and Namdari in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad. Oak forests, pastures and parts of natural resources have been burned in this fire, but the extent of the damage has not yet been announced.

The fire in Dashti County in Bushehr, the fire in the Pol-e Dokhtar rangelands, the fire that burned 321 hectares of Qom rangelands, or the fire that burned 6 hectares of Ilam fields and rangelands are other examples of fires in the heart of nature in recent weeks.

Colonel Ali Abbasnejad, commander of the Protection Unit of the Iranian Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Management Organization, announced that there have been 15 fires in the country's forests and rangelands in the past week. Acknowledging the lack of firefighting equipment in the Forestry Organization, he called on people to refrain from lighting fires or throwing cigarette filters in the forests and groves.

Nature's wrath; human anger

Lack of rainfall, dry air, and high temperatures are cited as causes of fires in the environment, but officials believe that human factors are more involved in such fires. The commander of the Forestry Organization's Conservation Unit says: "Only 20 percent of fires occur due to natural causes, and the rest are intentional."

Another thing that causes wildfires is the habit of some farmers who burn their crop residues with the aim of strengthening the soil.

Mohammad Reza Tabesh, head of the parliamentary environment faction, referring to the Behbahan forest fire, said: "This fire started in a protected area and the main cause was said to be lightning, but there are also rumors that in some areas where people have gardens, local disputes and profiteering caused this fire."

He asked environmental and natural resources officials in Kohgiluyeh, Boyer-Ahmad, and Khuzestan to investigate the cause.

Tabesh also criticized the lack of firefighting equipment and expressed hope that the government would allocate part of the flood funds to the provision of firefighting equipment.

According to reports, the provinces of Ilam, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, and Bushehr do not have any water-spraying helicopters, and only one water-spraying helicopter is available in Kermanshah. Ilam is considered the province with the least fire-fighting equipment and the highest number of forest fires.

The Director General of Natural Resources of Ilam said that 90 critical and super-critical sensitive areas have been identified in the province regarding fires, but there is not enough equipment and letters to deploy helicopters in the province have so far remained unanswered.

Source: DW