Flames in various places reduced to ashes mango trees, potato crop and haystacks

Ragi worth approximately Rs 50,000 was gutted in an accidental fire to a heap of harvested ears of ragi in Nayanahalli in the taluk on Saturday.

The heap belonged to P Narayanaswamy, a resident of Nayanahalli.

The neighbours, who discovered the heap was on fire a few minutes after the mishap, helped in putting out the flames. The staff of the Fire and Emergency Services Department rushed to the spot and doused the fire completely.

Unknown cause

Narayanaswamy, who spoke to Deccan Herald about the matter, said causes for the fire are unknown. “The ears of ragi grown on four acres of land had been piled up. Now, however the sudden fire has destroyed everything, leaving nothing behind even for the dry season.”

A staff of the fire brigade explained that a spark lit up at the bottom of the pile, and then spread to the rest of the heap. “The fumes were too dense and stronger than the fire.

But, immediate action to douse the flames prevented greater disaster and loss.”

Fire in mango grove

A fire in a mango grove near Unikili in Srinivaspur taluk in Kolar on Saturday gutted the trees. The grove belonged to Munishamappa and Ramappa of Panasamakanahalli.

A farm of teak trees belonging to Thimmappa, adjacent to the mango grove, had a lot of dry leaves fallen.

Miscreants are said to have set the piles of dry leaves afire, which spread to the mango grove, leading to heavy losses. Although the teak trees were not destroyed in the fire, the roots are said to have been affected.

The farms are situated away from the villages. As a result, the fire was not noticed by anyone soon. By the time people found fumes rising from the groves and rushed there, the fire is reported to have already died out.

This is the first such accident in the taluk this year. Last year, however, there was a considerable number of fire accidents in groves in Srinivaspur taluk.

Firewood, hay stacks

Unidentified miscreants have set fire to firewood and stacks of hay when its owners were away on Friday afternoon.

Ramappa had stored four tonnes of firewood and three stacks of hay in his farm on Antharagange Road on the outskirts of Kolar. The incident has occurred when the family was away at the Batheshwara festival in Balyahalli.

Three fire tenders took six hours to douse the fire, which has destroyed firewood and hay worth Rs 60,000.