Mariwan forest fire burns for five days

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Forests in Mariwan, Iran’s Kurdistan province have been burning for five days and volunteer environmentalists say that every time they put out the fire, people start it up again.

“The fire initially started in the forests between Hanasheikhan and Darawaran villages on Friday,” Irfan Hosseini, a member of the environmental group Chya Sabz, told Rudaw on Tuesday. “The teams of Chya Sabz and volunteers have put out the fire multiple times. However unknown people have started the fire again and it is still ongoing.”

One of the volunteers battling the blaze is 60-year-old Amin Studa who, along with her family, has fought many fires in the area.

According to Chya Sabz around 350 hectares of forests have burnt since the fire started in Mariwan.

Chya Sabz is a non-governmental organization established 22 years ago in Mariwan, Kurdistan province. It is the most active environmental group in Iran's Kurdish areas and has played a critical role raising awareness of illegal logging, wildfires, and threats to the famous oak forests.

The organization's work has come with sacrifice. Three of their members lost their lives last year battling fires in Kermanshah province. Another four died and 11 were wounded in the wreck of a minibus in June near Saqqez. Earlier this month, six of their members were injured in a car accident while on route to a forest fire near Mariwan.

The group has put out more than 120 fires in Mariwan this spring and summer.