Mt Apo blaze now ‘forest fire’, says tourism officer

KIDAPAWAN CITY --An official of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) has raised on Monday the category of the blaze on Mount Apo as forest fire. A forest fire is an uncontrolled fire that it takes a long time for the fire fighting crew to gain control over the situation.This could result in massive destruction of the Mt Apo forest.Joey Recemilla, chair of PAMB’s eco-tourism committee, said the extent of the damage brought by a bushfire that started Saturday afternoon has already been so wide, destroying forests mostly on the towns in Davao del Sur province surrounding Mount Apo.Areas under threatBased on PAMB’s monitoring as of Monday, areas in Davao del Sur that are under threat of forest fires include the remaining forest canopy of the Sta. Cruz town all trails going to the peak the Tamayong area and camp sites in Sitios Kulan, Godi-Godi, Tompis. As to the extent of the damage, PAMB has yet to release reports.Forest line establishedOn the Cotabato side, a 10-meter wide ‘forest line’ was established to prevent the fires to ‘consume’ the remaining forests in the so-called Kidapawan-Makilala-Magpet (KMM) eco-triangle, according to Recemilla. In a situation where there is no water, we immediately created a tightly-spaced road or line, about 10 meters wide, so as not to fuel the fire,” he explained.Some 2,000 volunteers, coming from towns of Makilala, Magpet, and Kidapawan City, were deployed in Lake Venado and at the Ma-ag Reforestation Area of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), with their bolos , rake, shovel, and other tools.They cut the small trees and grasses and clean the dried leaves to set up a forest line. This is a simple yet effective tool to fight forest fire,” said Recemilla.As of Monday, Recemilla said the grassfires on the KMM triangle are already ‘under control.’ We have technical problems but we were able to resolve them quickly because of the immediate actions undertaken by our LGU executives,” he explained.Camp fire could have triggered theblaze? As to the cause of fire, reports said a group of trekkers who used the trails in Sta. Cruz town could have started the blaze after they created a small fire near their camp in Lake Venado just to warm them on Good Friday night.Though Recemilla refused to confirm such report, he, however, said it could be a possibility.The PAMB will investigate the matter, anyway, he explained. But right now, what we will do is to immediately put off the fires on Mount Apo.And we need help, we badly need them so as to save the mountain,” he said.