MURREE: A fire destroyed a large number of trees in the forest of Pharri on Murree Expressway.

The forest department staff with the help of Rescue 1122 put out the flames in some parts of the forest which could be accessed by road.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Arshad Bhutta said the deputy commissioner Rawalpindi had taken notice of the incident and directed the rescue service to help the forest department in controlling the flames.

He said after three-hour-long operation the fire had been controlled.

Earlier, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Asad Malik had told Dawn that vehicles could not reach the hilly area where the forest fire had erupted. So the flames were extinguished using manual methods.

He said for more than 45,000 acres of forest land the department had 140 staffers and only three vehicles.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019