Forest Fires Hit Lanao Del Sur Watershed Areas

A massive forest fire of still unknown origin has been ravaging since Thursday evening vast tropical rainforests in the watershed areas of Lanao del Sur.

Local officials in Lanao del Sur and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have urged Friday the Philippine Air Force (PAF) to immediately monitor and help put off the forest fires.

ARMM Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman, who hails from Lanao del Sur, said the fire in the densely forested mountain ranges somewhere in Butig town was noticed Thursday night from certain villages along the Lake Lanao.

According to Lucman, he had reported the forest fire to his superior, ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman. In turn, Hataman immediately coordinated with the Bureau of Fire Protection and Armed Forces of the Philippines for joint efforts to put off the blaze.

“This is the first time we have this kind of disaster in Lanao del Sur,” Lucman told reporters Friday.

Sec. Kahal Kedtag of the ARMM Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-ARMM) have sent environmental personnel to Butig and nearby towns in Lanao del Sur to assess the situation and recommend appropriate action before the forest fire go out of control, similar to what happened in Indonesia last year.

Initial reports showed that the affected areas are timberlands in Mt. Pyagayongan and in nearby Mt. Mapantao in Lumba Bayabao town all part of the watershed areas from where springs big rivers flowing downstream Lake Lanao that help propel Agus hydropower plants. (PNA) JBP/NYP/EOF