A FOREST fire of still unknown origin damaged on Friday the protected area of the Twin Lakes Natural Park in Barangay Enrique Villanueva in Sibulan, Negros Oriental.
Firefighters, volunteers, and personnel from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office are currently working to slow down the flames, which began around 9 and 10 a.m., Rico Mier, president of the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Farmers’ Association and a member of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB).
Mier said that based on reports from farmer-members of their association, the fire was moving up Mt. Guintabon in a straight line.
He said he is stranded in Bukidnon with the enhanced community quarantine in Negros Oriental which required sealing all the borders of the province and the suspension of all land, sea, and air travel.
He said he was in close contact with volunteers and authorities here to help contain the spread of the fire in the government reforested land.
Indira Requiron-Puspus, Senior Administrative Assistant III and Municipal Tourism Officer of Sibulan, said that the local government unit had immediately dispatched fire trucks and personnel to the area upon learning of the blaze.
The area where the fire had started was about 20 meters away from the road from where the registration office of the Twin Lakes is situated, Mier said.
It could be reached by firefighters but he said that as the fire goes inward, firetrucks and vehicles may no longer be able to travel further in.
The cause of the fire has not been determined yet but it could either be spontaneous combustion or intentional, Mier said.
He said he does not believe that a “kaingin” or slash-and-burn activity had ignited the fire, considering that the farmers in the area are now formed into an association and are benefiting from income derived from the protected area.
The protected area of the Twin Lakes Natural Park comprises more than 8,000 hectares of forest land, he said.
He hopes that efforts to put out the fire will be successful and it would not be spreading sideways as it would bring more damage to the forests. (By Mary Judaline Partlow)
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