Fire in Binsar WLS

 If you cannot handle the heat, stay out of the flames.

It is allegorical, but forest fires are the same, intense heat  burning all before it. Forest fires can leave scars forever.

It could be a carelessly thrown cigarette (who smokes bidis now?); it could be deliberate, the viilagers feel that sweet grass always grows when the old dried grass and pine needles are burnt away; it could be a lightning strike…. any of these for starting a fire. But once it catches it spreads like, well, wildfire. 

The forest, especially where pine grows, is one great tinder box; waiting for that spark. The smoke obscures everything, particularly in the distance, it kills wildlife and birds as they have nowhere to go.

Building walls around properties; planting other trees like kafal, rhododendron, oak and other species; are all done in an attempt to inhibit forest fires. 

The pines are beautiful to look at, they grow in groves, but the resin is extremely flammable. they were tapped for resin (chevron shaped cuts, as above) till 1988, when Binsar became a Wildlife Sanctuary. And where the resin is exposed the pine trees are much more susceptible to catch fire. 

Pines have a great affinity to live, a shred of bark and they grow, the flame attacks the pine resin but the tree doesn’t die. The pines are almost fire-retardant, but they pass the fire on to small bushes and grass.

Stumps of old pine trees are completely burnt. One personally feels that the endemic growth of these forests is better than those trees and bushes brought by colonists for other purposes. The endemic growth is often visible in water courses, presumably where pine doesn't grow  or is difficult to access.

The scars caused by these fires are difficult to heal.