On 18 May 2022, a
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
killed at least 3 people and destroyed thousands of
pine-trees in
Sherani District of
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
There are forests of
Chilgoza
''Pinus gerardiana'', known as the chilgoza pine or ''neja'' is a pine native to the northwestern Himalayas in Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Waziristan and northwestern India, growing at elevations between 1800 and 3350 metres. It often occur ...
in this area and these forests have been engulfed in fire. The fire spread over an area of about five to six kilometers and efforts are being made to extinguish it.
Three people were killed and three were injured when locals tried to put out the blaze. The dead and injured have been shifted to Zhob Civil Hospital. According to the forest department, the fire started due to lightning or negligence of the local nomads. Due to the dry weather, the fire is spreading rapidly, while the fire has damaged wildlife, including chilgoza and olive trees.
References
{{Fires in Pakistan
2022 in Pakistan
May 2022 events in Pakistan
Fires in Pakistan
Natural disasters in Pakistan
Wildfires in Asia
2022 wildfires
2022 meteorology
Sherani District