After intense combat, forces from the Cuban Ranger Corps (CGB) today extinguished the large-scale forest fire located in San Juan y Martínez, in the western province of Pinar del Río.
The incident, which began in the afternoon of last Sunday, damaged 307 hectares in the area known as San Simón de las Cuchillas, according to preliminary data provided by Brandy Fajardo, head of the Cerro de Cabra Mountain Protection Circuit.
With abundant presence of adult and young Caribaea pine, the area is defined as high priority for the occurrence of fires according to the characterization of scientific studies, he pointed out.
The considerations are based on specific factors such as the topography of the land, the deterioration of the road network and the human presence that, in the case of Cuba, is responsible for 94 percent of the fires, Fajardo specified.
The absence of rainfall for about a month favors the presence of combustible material (undergrowth) in the area, inserted into the Cerro de Cabra Mountain Protection Circuit with 37,249 hectares scattered throughout the municipalities of San Juan and Martínez, Consolación del South and Pinar del Río.
The performance of the members of the CGB, of the workers of the Agriculture and combatants of the Ministry of the Interior who during intense days circulated, controlled and extinguished the fire, highlighted the manager.
The causes of the incident are still under investigation and the CGB calls on the population to maintain preventive actions for what phenomena of this type imply for the environment and the economy.
With a forest area of 48.07 percent, Pinar del Río is listed as the second most reforested province in Cuba, preceded by the eastern Guantánamo.
