Fires in Sikkim
Firesin Sikkim
6January 2006
A forest fire on a hill at the Sinbong Num Reserve affects a forest reserve in North Sikkim, Northern India. The fire broke out yesterday and is yet to be brought under control. Other forest fires had been reported from Rangrang in East Sikkim and Samdruche in South Sikkim which have been brought under control. Dry weather conditions coupled with carelessness by the people may have triggered off the fires.
No reports of any loss of life or property have been reported so far in the area where fire fighting operations were hampered by the inaccessible terrain. There were no villages in the immediate vicinity of the affected area.
Latest MODIS scenes showing the fires in Sikkim and surrounding countries
AQUA
6 January 2006
07:30 UTC
click on image for a 500 m resolution
This false-color image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 6 January 2006, shows the Himalaya mountain range dotted with active fires (red dots) and burn scars from recent fires (brownish red patches) in Bhutan, Nepal and Northern India.
See also other fire events in the Himalaya region:
For more information on the use of fires and wildfires in the Himalayas see:
Schmidt-Vogt, D. 1990. Fire in high altitude forests of the Nepal Himalaya. In: Fire in ecosystem dynamics. Mediterranean and northern perspectives (J.G. Goldammer and M.J. Jenkins, eds.), 191-199. SPB Academic Publ., The Hague, 199 p.
