Forest fires in Bolivia were 95% controlled by firefighters and the military, with the support of the rains, reported the Vice Minister of Civil Defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes. The latest fires are in La Paz and Santa Cruz, the region most affected by the fire.
“The forest fires in the national territory, including Santa Cruz, La Paz and Tarija, which were the most critical departments, are currently considered 95% extinguished and controlled. At this moment there are two fires that are still being attended to and in progress. We hope they will be turned off in the next few days,” the official reported in a conference.
“Pluvial precipitation is falling in a large part of the national territory and it not only helps to put out the fire, but also helps to alleviate the drought,” added Calvimontes.
To date, 1.4 million hectares of forest and pasture have already been consumed by fire throughout the country, according to data from the Vice Ministry of Civil Defense.
In 2019, Bolivia suffered an environmental disaster when forest fires consumed close to six million hectares of forest and grasslands in the Bolivian Amazon.
The authorities are currently executing the first stage of the Plurinational Plan against Droughts, which consists of supplying water through cisterns for human consumption, animals and crop irrigation.
The drought will persist until March 2023 according to the forecasts of the national government and, in some cases, it can last until June.
With information from Sputnik