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Sundarbans Fire Under Control; Probe Committee Formed
Firefighters successfully brought a devastating blaze in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, under control by Sunday morning, more than 24 hours after it started.
The fire, which damaged four acres of the Sundarbans—Bangladesh’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site—was finally extinguished, forest officials confirmed.
A three-member probe committee, headed by Dipen Chandra Das, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) of the Chandpai Range, was formed to investigate the cause of the fire. The committee, which includes Bipuleshwar Chandra Das and Md Rafiqul Islam, has been tasked with submitting a report within seven working days, said Kazi Muhammad Nurul Karim, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Division.
DFO Karim noted that both forest officials and local villagers worked tirelessly through Saturday night to control the fire, using water from the Bhola River. Firefighters joined the efforts on Sunday morning around 8 a.m., setting up a pipeline to transport water to the affected areas. By 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, the flames were fully extinguished, though some smoke was still visible in certain areas.
The fire affected parts of the Balla and Nal forests, with no major damages reported, according to Aftab-e-Alam, officer-in-charge of Sarankhola Fire Station. "About 90 percent of the fire was put out by 11:30 a.m.," he said, with no visible flames but occasional smoke prompting additional water spraying.
Authorities suspect the fire could have been caused by illegal honey collectors entering the forest ahead of the official honey collection season starting April 1, or by herders who bring livestock into the area. It is believed that discarded cigarettes or torches may have sparked the fire.
A fire-line spanning 1.5 kilometers was established to prevent further spread, and the fire service, along with local villagers and forest officials, worked together to extinguish the flames.
This fire marks the 29th such incident in the Sundarbans over the past 19 years, with nearly 85 acres of forest land destroyed by fire in that time. The Forest Department’s investigation report will determine the exact cause and extent of the damage.
Additionally, firefighters were dispatched to the Gulisakhali area on Sunday morning after reports of another fire.