About 200 hectares of pine trees were damaged at the Lekutu Fiji Pine Commission Plantation in Bua after a raging fire swept through the forest.
Pine trees ranging from five to six-year-old were damaged.
However, the Fiji Pine Commission’s operations manager, Naca Wakolo, had told The Fiji Times in an article published on October 1, 1985, that damage to the 11-year-old pine trees were minimum.
Mr Wakolo had said most of the five and six-year-old trees would recover, provided it rained within the next two to three weeks in Bua.
It took 70 firemen to completely put out the fire, this included the help of 12 Forestry Department workers from Seaqaqa and 40 Lekutu villagers at around 10pm on the night of the fire.
Mr Wakolo had said the cause of the fire was still unknown but it was believed to have started from an adjoining grazing farm.
“The fire jumped the Nabouwalu/Labasa highway and spread into the commission’s plantations.
“It started at the farm at about noon on Monday and we received a call at about 2.15pm,” he said.
When a team from this newspaper visited the scene the morning after the fire, volunteers were “mopping up” the glowing amber, spraying water and beating flames on fallen trees.
Mr Wakolo said the damage done in some areas was severe but they could not assess the monetary loss of the pine trees because some of the trees had chances of recovering. The commission was supposed to call police to investigate the cause of fire because it was the normal procedure.
He also mentioned the commission had attended to 42 fire calls that year.
The commission had 7698 hectares of pine forest at Lekutu.
To aid minimise the damage or starting of fires, watch towers were installed and workers were assigned to keep a 24-hour lookout on separate shifts.
According to reports, Mr Wakolo said there had been no rain in Bua for the past three months.
“This long dry spell combined with 20 to 25 knots wind gust will spread the fire even more quickly.
“Luckily, the favourable North-Westerly wind direction kept the fire away from the main plantation.”
He had said more accurate details of the damage would be available later after assessment teams visited the area.
