Fire breaks out at Poonch checkpost

Poonch, July 9 (ANI): A fire broke out at the Tetrinote and Chakkan-Da-Bagh checkposts on the India-Pakistan border in Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday evening.

Fanned by winds and dry grass, the blazing flames spread across three hectares of forest area, destroying flora and fauna. It took fire fighters six hours to bring the blaze under control.

Forest department, fire brigade and army personnel teamed up to douse the fire.

Extinguishing the fire became extremely dangerous and risky as there were instances of minefields exploding while coming in contact with the wildfire.

"The fire started 20 metres inside the Line of Control on the Pakistani side," said Shyam Lal, a fire service official.

This was the 10th instance of a forest fire in the district.

An FIR has been lodged in the forest office of Poonch for further investigations. (ANI)