TEHRAN - A local official at Kerman Province says that 450 hectares of forest areas in the Meymand rural district were burnt to ashes on Friday, IRNA reported.

Abolghasem Hatami said that the blaze destroyed 18,000 forest trees of peanuts and pistachios, 54,000 of Amygdalus scoparia and 4,500,000 bushes completely.

Damages are estimated to be around 126.5 billion rials ($3.8 million), Hatami explained.

Hatami blamed poachers for the fire which broke out on early Friday morning, about 5:00 a.m. local time.

Because of the wind and dense greenery, the blaze spread very quickly to a large area, making it harder for forest rangers to tame the fire, he added.

Hatami explained that different organizations in the province, related or unrelated to the Forest Range And Watershed Management Organization, were all called on to help bring the raging fire under control which was finally put out at 16:00 on Friday.

He said since the start of the Iranian calendar year, which began March 21, 2015, 32 fire incidents have been reported during which 38 hectares forest, 225 hectares of wooded pasture and 345 hectares of meadows have been burnt.

The Meymand rural district is located in the central district of Shahr-e Babak County in Kerman Province, in southeast Iran.

PT/OSN