AMMAN — Firefighters late Saturday were still attempting to extinguish a fire that erupted in Mohammad Nweiran Forest in Jerash Governorate at 3:00pm, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Mohammad Shorman, director of the agriculture ministry's forestry department, said the blaze had destroyed several trees and spread over around 50 dunums of the forest.

Shorman said the location of the fire was difficult to reach with the necessary firefighting equipment and that firefighters were therefore trying to bring it under control manually.

He stressed that all teams will remain at the location of the fire until it is extinguished to make sure that it does not spread.

The cause of Saturday’s blaze was not yet known.

Minister of Environment Yaseen Khayyat announced last week that the Rangers would increase patrols in heavily wooded areas to put an end to deliberate forest fires.

The minister said these fires are often set on purpose in order to bypass restrictions on logging.

Authorities dealt with eight forest fires over the past two months in Jerash, Balqa and Ajloun governorates, the last of which contains 140,000 dunums of forests that cover 34 per cent of its total area, according to the ministry.