Fire in Chingaza is 80% controlled: this is the latest balance

Dozens of Colombian soldiers were mobilized this Wednesday to support firefighters in fighting the fire which began in the Chingaza National Natural Park, near one of the reservoirs that supplies water to Bogotá, which has been rationing the liquid for nine months.

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The fire was detected on Tuesday night “in the vicinity of the Chingaza lagoon, several kilometers southwest of the Chuza Reservoir”, located in the department of Cundinamarca, indicated the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán. “With 4 emergency vehicles and 17 firefighters, we are supporting our brothers from Cundinamarca in responding to a forest fire that occurs in the Chingaza sector. We hope to be able to control the flames quickly and stop its advance”the Bogotá Fire Department said this Wednesday on its X account.

For its part, The Army indicated that 60 soldiers from the Mechanized Cavalry Group No. 10 Tequendama and the Disaster Assistance and Prevention Battalion No. 80 help in the “control and extinction work on the forest fire that has been recorded since last night in the Chingaza National Natural Park.”

Chingaza Park, with an area of ​​76,600 hectaresis located in the eastern mountain range of the Andes and covers seven Cundinamarca municipalities, as well as four from the neighboring department of Meta. In addition to the water sources that supply the Colombian capital, the Chingaza ecosystem is home to the spectacled bear, also called the Andean bear.

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The causes of the fire are unknown at this time, but authorities are investigating whether it was arson. The Colombian capital, a city of nearly eight million inhabitants, has been suffering since April 2024 unusual water rationing due to the low level of the reservoirs from which the aqueduct is supplied, caused in turn by the lack of rain in recent months.

As recently indicated by the Regional Autonomous Corporation (CAR) of Cundinamarca, the level of Bogotá’s reservoirs continues to decrease and the Chingaza System was at 45.96% of its capacity yesterday, while the Mayor’s Office has warned that it will reach 36%. , considered a critical point, will have to tighten rationing in the Colombian capital.

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Current status

Through his X account, the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, provided an assessment of the situation. The local president reported that The fire has already been controlled.

Galán also reported that at this time the overflight work with drones continues to verify if there are isolated outbreaks and monitor that the fire does not reactivate.

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EFE/PORTFOLIO