After more than 800 palm trees were destroyed in a fire at Athiyuthu off East Coast
Road (ECR), a major fire broke out in palm,coconut and casuarina groves, spread on about
five acres of land near Periyapattinam, on
Wednesday, destroying more than 1,000 trees.
On being alerted about the wild fire, apparently caused by lighted beedi or cigarette butts, Fire
and Rescue Services personnel, led by R.M.
Ilango, Station Fire Officer, Ramanathapuram,
put out the fire after struggling for more than 2 hours
The fire, which broke out in the afternoon, spread fast, thanks to the gusty winds. The dry
grass and palm and coconut fronds lying on the ground in the farms helped the fire spread eslily local people said.
Fire service personnel had a tough time, walking into the groves, braving thorny bushes. With
much difficulty, they finally extinguished the fire
with the help of the local people, Mr. Ilango said
About 500 coconut trees and an equal number
of palm and casuarina trees were destroyed in
the fire, S. Sethu Jalaludheen, a resident of
Periyapattinam, said. After fire service personnel put out the fire and left the area, a
fire broke out again from the embers in the evening and the fire fighters rushed back to
contain it, he said.
The groves were located away from residential
areas and no one was injured in the fire, police
said. Deputy Superintendent of Police and Tahsildar Dharmar
supervised the fire fighting operation.
This was the third major fire in palm groves since July. More than 1,000 palm trees were Sethudu
destroyed when a fire broke out at a grove in Valantharavai near Oil and Natural Gas comission’s Gas Collection Station (GCS) in July
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