As the summer approaches, forest officials across India begin to mobilise large workforces of firewatchers. They spend sleepless nights as forest fires erupt across the country, while other forest management activities take a back seat. There is a feeling of panic and negativity as the media fervently reports fires supposedly “destroying” and “ravaging” verdant forest landscapes. Even the Central Bureau of Investigation has been called to investigate forest fires in the past (PTI 2016a), and a former minister of the environment, forest and climate change was asked a question in Parliament about the rising incidence of forest fi res (PTI 2016b). At least one person has lost his life this year fi ghting a forest fire (Kumar 2017).