Uttarakhand forests are smouldering, leading to a loss of forest wealth worth crores, besides invaluable damage to flora and fauna. These raging fires have also claimed two human lives. With mercury soaring high, forest fires have engulfed large areas in the Garhwal as well as the Kumaon regions of the state. State government officials have requested the remote sensing agency to provide satellite imagery of the prevailing fires to know the exact damage. Large tracts of forests in Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts in Garhwal and Almora, Bageshwar and Pitthoragarh districts in Kumoan region are on fire. Godambari Devi, a woman in Pauri Garhwal district, was burnt to death when she tried to douse the forest fire. Hemant Sinngh Negi, a child, was also burnt to death in a similar forest fire in another incident in Pauri Garhwal district yesterday. According to state government officials, 1,800 hectares of forests have been burnt in the past few days. Forest fires are more severe in Garhwal region than Kumoan this year,' said A.R. Sinha, chief conservator of forests, Uttarakhand. It was after several years that massive forest fires are raging in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions. In the summer of 1999, devastating fires burnt forest wealth worth more than Rs 600 crore in the region. As per the report of the National Remote Sensing Agency (NSRA), Hyderabad, in one of the greatest fires in the region in 1999, around 22.64 per cent (5086.6 sq. km) forest area got severely burnt while about 1225 sq. km was affected severely. The extent of fire was more in dense forests (23 per cent) than in open forests. In 1995, forest fire affected 19.32 per cent of the total forest cover of the state. "Besides getting reports from forest staff, we are relying also on satellite pictures to know the extent of the fire. Our staff has been spending sleepless night fighting fires,' said Sinha.