Quito. The largest forest fire to hit Ecuador this year, which in seven days has already consumed nearly 4,000 hectares, more than 10 percent of the total that burned last year across the country, remained uncontrolled on Thursday, the local fire department confirmed.
The fire, which spread through a rural area in the south of the country, has left three people injured, two homes destroyed and threatens to reach an inhabited area, so several families have been evacuated, the Risk Management Secretariat reported.
The flames on the hill of the community of Quilanga, in the province of Loja, have so far consumed 3,877 hectares of pine forest and grasslands. In all of 2023, a total of 33,646 hectares of vegetation were lost in Ecuadorian territory due to fires, according to the report of the Secretariat of Risk Management.
Nationwide, 12 forest fires are active and being monitored, the agency added.
The dry season with the highest risk of forest fires in the country runs from July to December.
The fire, which started seven days ago, had initially been contained, but dry weather conditions and strong winds caused it to spread to a populated area where 14 families were evacuated, Steven Ortiz, a technician with the Risk Unit of the Municipality of Quilanga, told The Associated Press. In addition, two houses had been completely destroyed, as well as a poultry farm, the Risk Unit report added.
The Quilanga fire department told AP that it plans to begin air-firing on Friday, as the fire had not been brought under control by Thursday evening.
The mayor of Quilanga, Juan Carlos Santín, said that the fire was caused by “agricultural burning” —of garbage or agricultural waste that communities usually do to clean up crop areas— and he assured that they will not be allowed to continue.
So far this year, between January 1 and August 28, forest fires have burned some 13,200 hectares in Ecuador, according to an official report from the Ministry of Risks. The southern province of Loja was the most affected by forest fires in the last decade, with more than 45,000 hectares of vegetation consumed.
But other provinces have also been affected: in January, some 800 hectares of forest were burned in a forest reserve in the northern border province of Carchi, and in July, 850 hectares were lost in the central province of Azuay. These forest fires were among the largest to have occurred so far this year, according to official information.
About 100 people, including firefighters, soldiers and local residents, were working to extinguish the flames using tanker trucks and tankers, while a helicopter was expected to arrive to help with the air-dropping of water, Ortiz confirmed.
In this rural area, some 670 kilometres south of the capital, there are small, scattered human settlements with livestock and agricultural crops.
The National Institute of Meteorology has issued an alert for high levels of daytime temperatures and extreme radiation, expected for Thursday in the Andean region, combined with strong gusts of wind.
The Ministry of Health reported through its X account that its brigades are deployed in neighborhoods near the area.
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– 2024-09-04 19:06:30
