Knuckles wildfire still raging
October 24, 2010 11:59 am
The wildfire raging since the night of 22 October on the Hunnasgiriya Hills of the Knuckles Range is still ongoing. The Police, Army and Wildlife Department together are attempting to curtail the fire, the Disaster Management Center reported.
Disaster Management Ministry’s Kandy Coordinator Major Kamal Herath said that Air Force assitence was requested in order to extinguish the wildfire however due to the strong winds and high levels of mist in the area Sri Lanka Air Force helicopters were unable to travel to the region thus had to be turned back.
He added that so far approximately 20 hectares of land have been engulfed by the flames and destroyed due to the ravaging wildfire. However we have been able to extinguish and restrain a portion of the fire at the Knuckles Range, he said.