August 1, 2024, 1:46 PM
August 1, 2024, 1:46 PM
The Forest Fire Early Warning System (Satif) of the Government of Santa Cruz still records 27 active forest fires in the department, distributed in 11 municipalities: Concepción (5), San Ignacio (4), San Rafael (3), El Puente (3), San Matías (3), Roboré (2), San Javier (2), San Ramón (1) , Ascensión de Guarayos (1), Urubichá (1) and San Antonio de Lomerío (1).
Leonardo Claure, responsible for Satif, He reported that the municipality of San Matías has been added to the list of municipalities declared in disaster, both due to fires and drought, followed by Puerto Suárez, San Javier, Roboré, San Rafael, San Ramón, and San Antonio de Lomerío.
He added that the month of July begins with 4,563 hot spots recorded And so far this year, 103 fires have been reported (83 forest and 20 interface), affecting approximately half a million hectares.
“We have deployed our forest firefighters and instructors in different areas, who are fighting the fire alongside the Army, brigade members, and volunteer firefighters, such as in Roboré, San Matías, San Javier, San Ignacio and El Puente,” Claure explained.
Regarding the blockades, he asked the population that is at the points, allow passage to all fire brigades and personnel who are helping to put out the fires, stating that “Santa Cruz is in a Departmental Emergency, “the communities are in danger and the situation requires immediate attention.”
Data
Personnel mobilized by the Government to attend to fires: a total of 3,902, including forest firefighters from the institution, volunteer firefighters, community firefighters, and military personnel, who were trained since the beginning of the year by the Governorate to combat emergencies.
In the event of witnessing a forest fire emergency, the Departmental Government asks the population to report it through the toll-free line 800-14-8139, which is available 24 hours a day.
The report of the Social Control Authority for Forests and Land (ABT) as of August 1st, it recognizes 29 fires in the national territory, all in Santa Cruz, 28 active and one in the monitoring process, in San Antonio de Lomerío.
The active flames are in Guarayos (El Puente), with almost 21,500 ha burned in 25 days; Concepción, with 4,600 ha in 15 days; Puerto Suárez (Otuquis), with 7,400 ha; Roboré, with more than 30 thousand ha in 15 days; San Ignacio de Velasco, with almost 36 thousand ha in 36 days; San Javier, with almost a thousand ha for 18 days; San José, with more than 1,500 ha for 50 days; Yapacaní (San Juan and La Victoria), with almost 3,000 ha in 15 days.
In San Matías, the report of the ABT talks about four points of firewhich in 40 days have consumed 262,500 ha. In San Miguel, there has been an active fire for 18 days in the rural community of El Sirari, which consumed 500 ha; in San Rafael more than 15 thousand ha, most of them in forest management areas. The fire in Lomerío, which is being monitored, reaches 1,500 ha.
In total, the affected area in the department of Santa Cruz is close to 400 thousand hectares. On August 1, according to the ABT, Santa Cruz concentrated 84% of the hot spots (3,873), and Beni 15%, with 670. The rest of the hot spots were distributed between Pando, Tarija and La Paz.
