a strong fire It broke out this Tuesday night in Matanzas and has reached “alarming proportions,” according to the local press.
The fire, which was being fought by firefighters, has affected several kilometers of mangrove around the Armando Mestre Reparto, in the area known as El Naranjal, the newspaper reported on its networks Giron.
According to the media, the flames began their journey in an area near the Victoria de Girón stadium, and then spread to the vicinity of the Beltway.
“Although the intensity of the fire has decreased in terms of extension, the residents of Orange assure that the proximity of the fire to the adjacent buildings is much closer this time than on previous occasions,” he noted. Giron.
The media itself pointed out that although fires are recurrent in the mangrove area, residents and firefighters consider that “this one is unprecedented in terms of magnitude and real danger for the inhabitants of the area.”
Unknown cause and “probing work”
Although the fire was still active when the report was published, Giron He assured that “at the moment the Naranjal area is not in greater danger, since the fire has been moving away in the same direction in which it spread towards the vicinity of the neighborhood.”
The media confirmed that the direct cause of the incident was still unknown and noted that “probing and reconnaissance work in the area was being carried out to more carefully calculate the affected territory.”
Pending an official update, there were no victims or material damage beyond the affected vegetation areas.
Cuba has between January and May the period of greatest risk of forest firescoinciding with the dry period in the country, when risk conditions for the spread of fire increase.
According to Cuban authorities, the majority of fires of this type have human origin and negligence represents around 95% of cases.
Among the main causes are uncontrolled burning for various purposes, poorly extinguished cigarette butts, the traffic of vehicles without spark-killing devices, as well as illegal activities associated with hunting, fishing and the extraction of beehives.
