Fires Worsen in Pantanal Region; Mato Grosso do Sul Declares Emergency Situation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With about one million hectares destroyed by the fires in little over a month in Mato Grosso do Sul, the governor declared a state of emergency in a publication scheduled in the Official Gazette for this Thursday, September 12th.

Most of the affected areas includes municipalities in the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland area and a region that is already facing 45 days of drought.

On Tuesday, the governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (DEM), also declared an emergency situation in the state due to the increase in forest fires.

From all over the country, the municipality of Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul, is the one that concentrates the largest number of fires this month, a total of 634, according to data from Inpe (National Institute of Special Research). Only on Wednesday 11th, there were 254 heat points recorded, the highest national index.

Throughout the month, there were 1,579 fires in the state, being the highest index ever registered since 2008. According to the Prevfogo coordinator, Márcio Yule, the record holder in fires was in 2007, with 5,380 outbreaks at the peak of the drought in September.

This year the outbreaks of fire began to intensify in August, and the situation became more serious because of the long period of drought, with low humidity and high temperatures, which exceeded 40C (104F) in some municipalities.

Data from Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) indicates that, between August 1st and September 9th, the fires consumed 1,027,041.20 hectares in the state.

According to Yule, Prevfogo, an agency linked to Ibama, has teams in the areas considered most critical: the Corumbá region, the Kadwéu indigenous land (located in the Bodoquena Mountains), the Limão Verde and Taunay/Ipegue villages, Aquidauana and Miranda, near the Caiman Ecological Refuge, which on Tuesday 10th, recorded a major fire.

According to the state secretary of Environment, Economic Development and Production, Jaime Verruck, the teams of the Fire Department are on maximum alert, with about 250 firemen in combat actions throughout Mato Grosso do Sul. The work also involves the volunteer members trained in the villages and preservation areas, in addition to the Prevfogo team.

Now, with the declaration, the state government wants support from the Ministry of Regional Integration and the Army in fighting fires. The military reinforcement would be the use of the Air Force’s Hercules C130 aircraft, a study that is being done by the Integrated Situation Room, a group set up since the increase in fires and will be sent to the Ministry of Defense.

For Márcio Yule, the situation is worrisome. “There will be another ten days of intense heat. In addition, the prognosis is not very encouraging until October.

According to the meteorologist from Anhanguera Station/Uniderp Natálio Abrãao, there is a forecast of rain as of September 18th, but of little intensity and only for the southern region of the state. Only from the 22nd, in the spring, the indexes will increase, with the forecast of storms and even floods, but they may not be enough.

“Rainfall may be large, but not as much as is needed to solve the problem.”