A wildfire that started at a forest in Lamjung on Monday has already destroyed around 15 hectares of forest cover as of Tuesday afternoon.

The wildfire in Patal Community Forest of Sundar Bazaar Municipality has already burnt down hundreds of trees and is showing no signs of relenting, local community forest users said.

“The fire is advancing towards the surrounding hills. All efforts to contain it have not worked so far,” said Gobardhan Gauli, a local man. 

The villagers had informed the police about the forest fire on Monday evening, and together they had mounted efforts to stop the fire from spreading. Dry deadwood, twigs and leaves have fuelled the fire, Police Inspector Om Prakash Pun said.“The fire has already spread across a huge area and it is impossible to contain it with the efforts from locals and police alone,” he said. 

According to the Division Forest Office, approximately 15 hectares of the area in the community forest was on fire as of Tuesday afternoon. “We have received reports that the fire started from Adhikarigaun near Koiralaphant. We are coordinating with the locals and security personnel to control the fire from causing further damage,” Raj Kumar Shrestha, assistant forest officer at the Division Forest Office, said. The forest office is also investigating the cause of the fire.

Every year during the dry season, willdfires break out in several forests across the country. They usually occur between November and December and continue until the onset of monsoon. 

The annual occurrence of forest fires has been the biggest threat to the country's forest cover.
The year 2009 was the deadliest forest fire season when 49 people, including 13 Nepal Army personnel, died while controlling forest fires in Ramechhap district.