Fire in Taif’s Amad Mountain ‘under control’ — Saudi civil defense

RIYADH: The percentage of a fire on Amad mountain in Maysan governorate now under control is “very high, despite the intensity of the winds and the topography of the site,” Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said on Saturday.

The Director General of the Directorate of Civil Defense, Lt. Gen. Sulaiman Al-Amro, was investigating the operation plans and efforts being made to extinguish the fire, a day after it erupted in Taif, western Saudi Arabia.

He said civil defense teams were “doubling efforts and making use of the large technical mechanisms and equipment, which contributed to reducing the seriousness of the fire and preventing its spread,” Saudi Press Agency reported.

On Friday, the media spokesperson for the civil defense in Makkah, Col. Mohammed Al-Qarni, said that the fire was receding and confined to one area, adding that “field command and support plans have been created to deal with the fire using human and mechanical capabilities that require dealing with state variables.”

He said the fire broke out in a mountainous area with very rugged heights and civil defense teams managed to cordon and isolate the fire to prevent it from spreading further. “The site is uninhabited and no injuries were recorded,” Al-Qarni added.

Al-Amro conveyed the thanks of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif, Minister of Interior, to the civil defense teams and the government and private agencies supporting the work of the Directorate of Civil Defense, as well as volunteer teams, appreciating everyone’s role.

He conducted a field tour of the fire sites in Amad Mountain (Jabal Amad) and “assessed the mechanism of action and confrontation that is being implemented,” SPA said.

After that, he held a meeting with the civil defense leaders at the field command headquarters at the site of the accident and discussed a number of related issues.

Amad Mountain rises more than 2,000 feet above sea level and is famous for its juniper trees. It is home to large numbers of livestock. The area is also known for other tourist attractions, including Hathwa’ parks and Al-Barda