Dibe hills burn as sun sparks fire
Dibe hills burn as sun sparks fire
12 April 2013
published by www.guardian.co.tt
Trinidad and Tobago — A bush fire caused by normal convection heat engulfed hills in Dibe, off Long Circular Road, Maraval, yesterday. A source at the operations department of the Fire Service Headquarters on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, said the suns heat combined with the dry vegetation caused the fire. He was unable to confirm precisely when it started or how much land was affected, but said it was unreachable by the crew on the ground. They seeing about it by helicopter, he said.
Some fires are inaccessible to appliance and crew because there is no proper roadway to access the fire. The bambi bucket service was called to provide aerial relief to the area. It is a special bucket containing water that is suspended by a helicopter, used to extinguish or tame fires below. They trying to get it under control, the source said.
Akilah Jaramogi, managing director of the Fondes Amandes Community Reafforestation Project, questioned the effectiveness of the bambi bucket after the fire was allowed to rage for so long. I dont know how effective that is now, the damage is already done, she said. She explained that the fire could have been easily contained on Thursday or by Friday morning, but it was allowed to get out of control by the authorities.
Its really sad seeing the hillside burn like that when we have so many resources that could have been used to contain it, she said. The source from the Fire Service said there had been no reports of injury or potential danger to anyone in the area.
