TEHRAN, July 27 (MNA) � A great conflagration has consumed 100 hectares of wildlife habitat in Miyankaleh, in northern province of Mazandaran.

Miyankaleh watchdog manager told Mehr News local correspondent that 100 hectares of the wildlife habitat had been consumed by wildfire, which he believed was the greatest conflagration in the recent decade.


Horr Mansouri said that the conflagration started around 3 pm local time on Saturday in the wildlife habitat in Miyankaleh. �The lack of proper facilities gave opportunity to fire to consume the habitat for another four hours; by the time firefighting facilities arrived in the region from Behshahr Department of Environment and Amir Abad port, it was 3 AM local time in the morning, when they managed to control the fire,� he said.


He said that the fire started in a patch of forest with length of 2500 meters and width of 400 meters in Miyankaleh Sahra near the wetland. �Fortunately, yesterday was not a holiday and no one was damaged; instead, pomegranate, raspberry and sedges trees were consumed by fire,� he added.


Horr Mansouri rejected the possibility that the fire was started by natural factors, since the weather in the region is highly damp. �The starting factor is human in the most probability; tourists and those going to the region are generally heedless of fire and would not put off the fire,� he speculated.


He also raised the possibility that local farmers would trigger the fire through burning their lands to control the weeds. �Cattle farmers also would play a role in setting fire to the lands, since burnt plants produce offshoots immediately which provides a source of food for cattle,� the watchdog said.


By Mehr News Agency





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