Wildfire ravages forests in northern Iran

TEHRAN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Wildfire has ravaged forests in Iran's northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran over the past 24 hours, said an Iranian official on Sunday.

The fire has burned forests in the Marzanabad town of Mazandaran, and is still out of control, said Mehrdad Khazaei, the head of the Organization of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Chalus.

Khazaei told Tasnim news agency that his organization is in urgent need of helicopters to quench the fire.

The staff of the organization and the residents of surrounding villages have rushed to extinguish the fire in forests of Marzanabad, but have not been able to control the blaze, which is being fanned by hot winds, he said.

In the meantime, local media reported Sunday that wildfire which erupted on Saturday has razed the forests across Caspian Sea province of Gilan.

Police have closed some access roads have been closed due to the expansion of the fire.

The Marzanabad town is a tourist attraction site during the spring festival which lasts for two weeks since March 20.

According to Tasnim, wildfires are not rare in Iran. Back in 2015, a wildfire laid waste to around 40 hectares of forests in the province of Ilam. The fire was put out with the help of local people. Enditem