CHITRAL: The officials of the Rescue 1122, the forest department and the Chitral Levies failed to put out a fire that erupted in the Birir valley forest two days ago despite making hectic efforts on Sunday.

An official of Rescue 1122 told Dawn that on Saturday the fire had almost been extinguished, but the firefighting effort had to be stopped as night fell. The fire flared up again due to the blowing of wind in the night, he added.

He said the dried logs of trees were causing spread of the fire to new areas. He said that the fire had so far reduced hundreds of deodar trees to ashes.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2021