DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistani firefighters have controlled 90 percent of a blaze in the pine nut forests of the Koh-e-Sulaiman range in the Darazinda subdivision, Rescue 1122 emergency service said on Wednesday, with the operation halted temporarily due to limited visibility.
Pakistan dispatched a 16-member team to the affected area after the fire broke out on Wednesday morning, who battled the flames with the provincial wildlife department throughout the day.
“After working hard all day on the difficult paths of the mountain range, 90 percent of the fire has been controlled,” the statement said.
“The current operation has been stopped due to limited visibility because of darkness in the mountain range,” it added. “However, the Rescue 1122 team is currently at the scene.”
The emergency response service said firefighters will resume the operation to douse the flames early Thursday morning.
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire that erupted in the pine nut forests of the Koh-e-Sulaiman range in the Darazinda subdivision, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 30, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Rescue 1122)
In an earlier statement, Rescue 1122 said its team is equipped with all necessary firefighting gear, including fire extinguishers, personal protective equipment and other essential items required for working in mountainous areas.
“In such emergencies, methods like smoldering and starvation are employed to extinguish the fire, which involves cutting off the fire’s access to oxygen and fuel,” it explained.
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire that erupted in the pine nut forests of the Koh-e-Sulaiman range in the Darazinda subdivision, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 30, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Rescue 1122)
This is not the first such incident in the region’s pine nut forests. A significant fire broke out in the Sherani district, part of the same range that straddles Pakistan’s western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in May 2022.
The blaze lasted over two weeks, destroying a large portion of the ancient pine nut trees, with reports suggesting over 100,000 trees were burned, causing significant damage to the local ecosystem.
The 2022 fire in the Sherani district in Balochistan prompted Pakistan to seek assistance from Iran, which sent an air tanker to help extinguish the flames.
Such recurrent fires highlight the vulnerability of the region, where pine nut forests are not only ecologically valuable but also provide a livelihood for many locals.
