The fire that erupted in the forest near the air force station in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, on Sunday was brought under control on Monday after hours of fighting.
“It was difficult. “The fire has been brought under control thanks to the tireless efforts of the air force personnel and firefighters,” Kasauli sub divisional magistrate Sanjeev Dhiman said. “There are flames visible near the clubhouse,” Dhiman said, “but we are hopeful that we will be able to put the fire out by afternoon.”
Because Kasauli lacks a fire station, fire tenders were dispatched from Solan and Parwanoo, an industrial town on the Himachal-Haryana border, around 9.30 a.m. The fire departments travelled nearly an hour and a half from both stations to reach Kasauli, which has nearly 400 hotels.
Official sources say the fire started at 6.30 a.m. on Sunday on a hilltop near the air force station. Because fire trucks couldn’t get to the scene, the air force deployed its choppers to put out the fires that threatened to spread to a residential area.
During the day-long operation, four people were injured, including three firefighters. Rishu Aggarwal, a local contractor, was among the injured.
The three firefighters were taken to Chandigarh’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research with burns ranging from 10% to 30%. They were identified as firefighter Jagdish Sharma, firefighter Mohinder Sharma, and a member of the home guard Satish Kumar.
The fire was brought under control by evening due to the high-speed wind, but it spread again this morning at 4.30 a.m.
Throughout the day, Kasauli was engulfed in a plume of thick smoke billowing from the forest as dry pine needles caught fire.
Mahavir Kaushik, deputy commissioner of Panchkula, said he received a call from Chandimandir cantonment reporting a fire near the air force station in Kasauli. The defence authorities asked for permission to take water from the Kaushalya Dam and for police to be deployed. “A few sorties were conducted on Sunday from sunset to sunrise and again on Monday morning,” Kaushik said.
Police have been deployed at Kaushalya Dam, according to Panchkula deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Mohit Handa, so that the air force can take the water if necessary. ASI in charge of Amravati Enclave police station According to Narender Singh, police have been deployed to ensure that no one enters the area.
