Grassfire hits portion of Chocolate Hills in Bohol

A grassfire has affected two hills of Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol, Unang Balita reported on Wednesday.

Citing the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the report said the fire started past 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Barangay Buenos Aires.

The fire, which was blamed on the current hot weather, was put out after three hours, the BFP said.

According to state weather bureau PAGASA, more parts of the Philippines may have to endure the blistering heat as it sees heat index spiking between 45°C and 54.8°C in May. 

Heat index is the measure of the temperature that a person feels, which is different from the actual air temperature. It is computed by factoring in the humidity and the air temperature.

According to a later report by GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak's Nikki Sereno on 24 Oras, the fire started at the top of one of the hills and soon spread to the other.

Because there are no roads to the site, the fire trucks found it difficult to get to the site of the conflagration, and the firefighters could not use their hoses.

"We had to put out the fire manually. We manually put out the burning grasses. We weren't able to blast water because our fire hoses couldn't reach the area," said BFP-Bohol Fire Inspector Jumawid in translated remarks.

The fire covered about 5,000 square meters but no property was reported damaged. —KBK/BM, GMA Integrated News