Official voices concern over massive rise in forest fire incidents

LAHORE: The Secretary Emergency Services Department Dr. Rizwan Naseer has expressed serious concern over the unprecedented 89% increase in forest fire incidents from 199 last years to 377 forest fire incidents so far in 2024.

He emphasized on coordinated efforts for timely detection of such incidents at initial phase for swift response and effective firefighting & control.

He also appreciated Rescue firefighters of Murree, Chakwal, Narowal & Rawalpindi for extinguishing these challenging forest fires taking several days of efforts in extreme weather, burning forest flames and suffocating smoke.

Provincial Monitoring Officer briefed that Rescue 1122 rescued 195,696 victims while responding to 204,930 emergencies across Punjab during the month of May 2024.

He said that out of 204,930 emergencies 137,584 medical emergencies, 40,265 were road traffic accidents, 5,017 crime incidents, 4,814 fire incidents including 152 forest fires, 3,842 Delivery Cases, 2,191 Occupational Injuries, 1,305 Animal Rescue, 156 Drowning Cases, 52 structural collapses and 9,704 miscellaneous operations in Punjab.

He also revealed that Punjab Emergency Service responded to 4,814 fire incidents including 152 forest fire operations in May 2024 in which majority of forest fire incidents took place in Murree i.e. 26, followed by 24 forest fire incidents in Chakwal, 18 in Narowal, 17 in Rawalpindi & 16 in Gujrat.

Secretary of the Emergency Services Department, Dr. Rizwan Naseer expressed serious concern over the unprecedented 152 forest fires in previous month in Punjab. He stated that rescuers conducted day and night fire and rescue operations in challenging and difficult forest fire situations.

He saluted the firefighters for managing forest fire incidents in mountains and difficult terrains. He explained that the timely detection of forest fires and prompt calls can reduce the spread and damage of fires.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024