Mussoorie, May 22 -- The escalating forest fire crisis amid rising temperatures in Uttarakhand claimed two lives in separate incidents in Garhwal region, officials said on Thursday. In one incident in Tehri Garhwal district, a 50-year-old woman was found dead after a fire broke out near her agricultural field. In another incident in Chamoli district, the body of a missing 42-year-old fire watcher was recovered from a 70-metre-deep gorge near Bedubagad on Badrinath Highway on Thursday. According to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Diganth Nayak of the Narendranagar Forest Division, the deceased woman was identified as Anju Devi (50), a resident of Pipola Saij village. "She had gone to her village's private agricultural land to cut grass when a sudden fire broke out in the field. It is suspected that she inhaled the smoke, lost consciousness and collapsed into the flames," said Nayak. He said the incident occurred on civil revenue land and not in a designated forest area. Forest Range Officer Sanjay Singh Belwal of Kirtinagar range said all forest personnel and fire watchers had been placed on high alerts. In the second incident, Rajendra Singh Negi (42), a resident of Pakhi Jalgwad village, died while working as a departmental fire watcher in the Bedubgarh Birhi area in Chamoli. DFO Sarvesh Dubey of the Badrinath Forest Division said Negi's body was recovered on Thursday morning from a deep gorge. "He likely slipped from the rocky cliff while extinguishing the fire and fell into the gorge," he said. Family members demanded Rs.50 lakh compensation and a government job for one member of the bereaved family. Dubey said the forest department had appealed to employees to donate one day's salary as immediate assistance. In Uttarkashi, fire service teams battled major forest fires near Bangaon village....