With mercury soaring the incidents of forest fires in various parts of the state has gone up even though most are ground fires with an estimated loss of only Rs 10.35 lakh. Till now 71 cases of forest fires have been reported with none of them being a devastating one. The forest area that has been affected by the fires this year till now is 972 hectares. Even though the fire-prone season is after April 15 onwards, the forest staff were put on alert right from mid-March this year so that any incident of fire could be prevented and the damage confined to the minimum. "Last year, there were 580 forest fires with an estimated loss of Rs 86 lakh,' said T.S. Thakur, conservator, management. The fires, mainly in the districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Solan, Shimla, Mandi had affected a total forest area of 7,810 hectares. Even though the Forest Department considers April 15 to June 30 as the fire season, preventive steps like controlled burning and clearing of fire lines were undertaken to minimise the possibility of fires in mid-March itself this year. This year the Forest Department has formed forest squads who will be on duty round the clock in shifts so that they can rush to the spot on receiving fire-related information. "With limited mobility due to non-availability of vehicles, the department has this year given permission to hire taxis for effective control of fires,' informed a senior officer. The government is also in the process of providing fire-fighting equipment and other tools to check fire. The staff deputed on special fire duty would shortly be provided with fire-resistant clothes.