Landmine detonations and terrain kept firefighters at bay
Nearly 1,000 hectares of mostly bamboo forest in four communes of Pailin province have been razed by a fire which detonated scores of landmines and burned for more than a fortnight, only coming under control late last week, provincial officials said yesterday.
The cause of the fire, which spread through Pailin, Boyakha, Tuol Lvea and O’Tavao communes, was unknown yesterday. There have been no reported deaths and no houses destroyed in the blaze, officials said.
Kim Sokha, director of the provincial environment department, said the mountainous terrain, coupled with the threat of unexploded ordnance, had made firefighting efforts nearly impossible.
“It is a landmine area and it was full of bamboo, so no one could get in,” he said. “The governor tried to intervene but he could not do anything since the area is so dangerous. The fire trucks could not access the burning area because it is on the mountain.”
Mr Sokha said 88 explosives had detonated during the blaze, which started Feb 24 and was reduced under last week’s rains.
“If there was no rain, the fire would have still been on its way and we would not have known what to do,” he said.
Pailin City Governor Sous Siyat said the flames proved too much for authorities.
“It was beyond our capacity because the fire took place in the mountains and it is a landmine area,” he said. “We had to call the village chiefs and the people to tell them about the disaster of the forest fire, and [we] told them to be careful.”
Chhuon Makara, Pailin coordinator for local human rights group Adhoc, said he had not heard any reports of deaths or houses being destroyed, but added that a small fire was still burning in O’Tavao.
“There are still flames in some areas and we cannot really tell if the fire is gone because the fire took place high up the mountain and we could not get closer to the point to see if the fire finished in some areas,” he said.
Mr Sokha, the environment department director, said it was still unknown what had caused the blaze.
“Since it is the bamboo forest and it gets really dry, the bamboo might be rubbing together and causing fire, or people passing the area might cause the fire by unconsciously throwing away their cigarette butts.”
Mr Sokha added there were still fears that the fire would reignite, fanned by strong winds.
“There are still embers…coming from the big burning roots,” he said.
“We are still monitoring the situation…. This is the driest year I have experienced since I was stationed here almost 10 years” ago, he said.
Heng Ratana, director of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, said the area where the conflagration occurred was extremely dangerous as it had been a major battlefield that still contained many landmines.
“We have staff working there every day and we demine at the places that the community and the local authorities prioritized,” he said. Currently, “we demine at the spots that they want [to use] for school building and agriculture. We could not do demining everywhere as our resources are limited.”
