Monday was Dera Gai (St. John’s Day), and as a part of this tradition, people set fires to burn the remains of the harvest. While authorities have asked the community to stop setting fires, many still do it, and they quickly get out of hand.
From early on, firefighters were busy with wildfires threatening nearby houses or businesses. The most hindersome part was the smoke that lingered after extinguishing the fires.
One of these fires was in Boegoeroei, and was threatening a house. Another wildfire was in Casibari, and while this one was not near any establishments, the flames were reaching nearby utility poles.
A house caught fire in Kurimiauw, for which three firefighting units arrived. Two of them managed to enter the private property to extinguish the fire. Luckily the house was abandoned and no one was injured.
After the firefighters managed to control the fire in Kurimiauw, two more fires started. One of them was near the Domino’s Pizza Paradera. Firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly got the fire under control. Yet another fire was on the dam in Moko. Firefighting units arrived at the scene to deal with this fire as well.
There was also a fire in Solito threatening a supermarket. The owner himself came outside and started spraying water to protect his business while the firefighters were on their way.
Another large fire was on the grounds of Fantastic Garden. Police arrived at the scene to close both sides of the road. Firefighters arrived at the scene to start fighting this large fire.
All in all, it took three to four firefighting units to handle all the fires springing up around the island. The smoke especially is a nuisance for many people, causing most to close doors and windows. More and more people are asking to stop the fire-setting tradition completely on June 24th.
