Dry grass fire destroys plantations at Agonda

Canacona: An extensive area of cashew plantations at Dumane-Agonda, near Karmal Ghat in Canacona, got engulfed in a fire on Saturday afternoon.
According to sources, some motorists observed smoke emanating from the side of the Dumane bridge and soon, the fire spread through the dry grass. It further spread to a cashew plantation nearby belonging to Cedric Fernandes of Agonda. Fernandes suffered a loss of Rs 20,000, while the firefighters saved property of around Rs 50,000."
The fire then raged towards the Karmal Ghat highway area, engulfing a large tract of cashew and other plantations in the process.
Some passers-by informed the local fire and emergency services when they saw cashew plantations going up in flames.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and tried to control the blaze from an internal road to Dumanem. As the fire began to rage from the other side too, personnel were seen struggling to quell it with just one fire tender. However, after approximately two hours, the dry grass area was exhausted, which helped the firefighters douse the blaze.