Fire hits popular Mt. Pulag trail

BENGUET, Philippines – A fire hit one of the trails to Mt. Pulag in Kabayan, Benguet on Wednesday morning.

The blaze of still unknown origin was seen from afar by responding emergency personnel of the Kabayan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office when they responded to a call to the Bureau of Fire Protection about and ongoing forest fire at Sitio Tinuping, Eddet, along Akiki Trail.

Disaster responders went to the Akiki Trail Ranger Station to coordinate with the park ranger and tour guides.  Upon arriving at Balangabang in Eddet, the fire was spreading wildly in different directions. 

Park Ranger Herson Felipe claimed it would take from six to eight hours to hike to the place affected by the fire.

Fire declared out on Thursday

On Thursday morning, two teams of Kabayan town firemen proceeded to Abucot, Kabayan while Park Ranger Orly Bugnay and another team proceeded at Line 10, via Bokod, also in Benguet.

Responders declared the fire out before noon on Thursday. They reported no casualties or damage to any structure.

Barangay Kagawad Julian Sumakey of Abucot, Kabayan, quoting local hunters, said the fire started at early Monday morning on the creek bed of Sitio Tinuping in Eddet.

The Environment department has yet to disclose the extent of the damage.

Part of the Akiki Trail had been reopened to hikers in April after being closed for several months to allow the area to recover from a grass fire in January. The fire, caused by a hiker's portable gas stove, damaged around six hectares of the grasslands on Pulag.

Mt. Pulag, the highest peak in Luzon and second highest in the country after Mt. Apo, is a sacred ground to the indigenous people of Benguet.  It is touted as a mountain hikers' mecca in the North.