File photo courtesy of Jerome Quejano
QUEZON, Philippines—Another fire broke out in Mount San Cristobal adjacent to the mystical Mount Banahaw in Quezon province and was still raging as of early evening Tuesday, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said.
Salud Pangan, DENR-park area superintendent for the two mountains, said the blaze started at 2 p.m. in a rocky and grassy area of San Cristobal side of Dolores, Quezon.
In a phone interview, Pangan said they have asked the military to provide a helicopter with buckets able to gather water from a river or other water sources to douse the fire.
As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the fire was still raging, Pangan said.
“But it is too far to spread to the nearest community,” she said.
Last March 18, a fire also hit San Cristobal facing San Pablo City and wiped out 140 hectares of grassland and government reforestation project in the area.
The fire was caused by reckless honey bee collectors, according to Pangan.
Some natives in the area are used to honey hunting of wild bee colonies in the forest, using burning dry leaves to blow smoke to the hive to avoid stinging and swarming.
On March 19, another fire struck the top portion of the mystical Mount Banahaw facing Sariaya, Quezon
The blaze destroyed 50 hectares of mixed bush land and forest trees on the western slope of Banahaw.
Based on the initial findings, the fire was caused by religious pilgrims who left their candles burning.
In 2010, two successive grass fires also destroyed an estimated 70 to 80 hectares in San Cristobal.
The blaze was also accidentally triggered by an unextinguished fire left behind by honey bee collectors.
Mount San Cristobal straddles San Pablo City and the municipalities of Nagcarlan, Rizal in Laguna and Dolores, Quezon. It lies adjacent to Banahaw that spans the towns of Lucban, Tayabas, Sariaya, Candelaria and Dolores in Quezon and parts of the towns of Rizal, Nagcarlan, Liliw and Majayjay and San Pablo City in Laguna.
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