Forest fire at Air Force Station in Kasauli leaves four injured

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 15

Four people, including three firemen, were injured and a fire tender was partially damaged in a massive fire which broke out at the Air Force Station in Kasauli around 6.30 am on Sunday.

The fire was noticed by villagers first who alerted the air force authorities. They immediately swung into action and requisitioned fire tenders from the cantonment and air force station.

The whole area was engulfed in a plume of smoke as firefighters struggled to control the blaze. Smoke was seen billowing from the forest throughout the day as dry pine needles had caught fire.

Commandant (Home Guards) Shiv Kumar Sharma said they rushed to the spot as soon as information was received around 9.30 am. Three firemen comprising fire tender driver Jagdish Sharma, firemen Mohinder Sharma and a home guard personnel Satish Kumar suffered 10 to 30 per cent burns.

They sustained injuries while trying to douse the fire which was fuelled by the high-speed wind.

A civilian contractor, Rishu Aggarwal, who had undertaken some work at the said site, also sustained severe burn injuries.

The injured were rushed to the army hospital at Kasauli from where they were shifted to PGI, Chandigarh.

Three fire tenders from Kuthar, Parwanoo, Solan besides those from Kasauli cantonment and army were rushed to the spot to douse the flames.

Though firefighting operation continued throughout the day, the blaze was yet to be doused. It was spreading to the nearby areas by evening.

The fire spread from the revenue land to the forest area in no time and kept the air force authorities on their feet throughout the day. Firefighting operations were continuing till the filing of this report.

Shiv Kumar Sharma said since the fire tenders were unable to reach up to the hill where the fire had broken out, the blaze spread fast with the high-speed wind blowing over the area. A fire tender near the Sunset Point caught fire as a huge flame leapt to the place where the tender was parked.

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