News
Arson suspected in Thabbowa wildfire
Innocent victims Pic by Hiran Priyakara Jayasinghe
Two teams of wildlife officers have been sent to the area believed to be the starting point of the fire to carry out investigations to learn how the fire within the Thabbowa Wildlife Sanctuary occurred, Karuwalagaswewa wildlife ranger D. Ramasinghe said.
He said the teams were carrying out investigations to learn how the fire had occurred and find the culprits if the fire was due to arson.
He added that the fire occurred on Friday afternoon and that it took 10 hours to control it. Officers of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Tabbowa army camp, the area police, and the Puttalam Municipal Council firefighter team put in a combined effort to douse the fire.
Puttalam District Assistant Wildlife Director Eranda Gamage said the fire, which started at the 13th milepost, had burned down trees, shrubs, and grasslands to an extent of more than 300 acres.
The wildlife officers suspect that the fire could have been started by a person or a group of people, perhaps with the intention of hunting animals.
They said they believed the fire would have killed many animals in the area.
Recently, the Sunday Times reported that the forest department and Disaster Management Centre (DMC) were struggling to douse devastating forest fires in Puttalam, Badulla, Vavuniya, Hambantota districts, and many other areas.
The Sunday Times report also said that the dry weather was also contributing to forest fires spreading, while hunters, honey collectors, sand miners, campers, farmers, and cattle owners are among the suspects for arson-related forest fires.
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