A wildfire has broken out in the Kuragala forest reserve, Hiru News reported on Saturday.
Local residents and police officers are working together to contain the blaze and stop it spreading to surrounding areas.
Police suspect the fire was triggered by the dry weather prevailing in the region.
The second fire reported in a day
It is the second forest or wetland fire reported in Sri Lanka on Saturday. Earlier the same day a Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 412 helicopter was deployed to water-bomb a rapidly spreading fire in the Muthurajawela Sanctuary north of Colombo. The two incidents are around 150 kilometres apart and no connection has been suggested between them.
Both come as the Meteorology Department warns that the developing El Niño may be the strongest in 75 years, with rainfall expected to remain low for roughly a fortnight before the second inter-monsoon arrives in late September. More than 160,000 people are already affected by the dry conditions.
Kuragala lies in the Balangoda area of the Ratnapura district, in Sabaragamuwa Province, and the surrounding reserves have seen dry-season fires in previous years.
Not reported
Hiru’s report is brief and leaves the essentials open. It does not say when the fire started, how large an area is burning, whether it has been contained, or whether the Forest Department, the Army or the Air Force have been called in alongside residents and police. No figure is given for damage to the reserve, and no threat to nearby homes is either confirmed or ruled out. The report does not identify the district, and “dry weather” is offered as a police suspicion rather than a determined cause — no accidental or deliberate ignition source is named. No other verified newsroom had filed on the fire at the time of writing.
