Havana/With 1,200 hectares of calcined forest, Pinar del Río Live your sixth day without being able to control the fire of great proportions that originated in the municipality of San Juan and Martínez, in an area known as El Arenal. To the body of rangers have joined tobacco and neighbors of the province, who fear that their crops will be reached by the flames.
At the moment, the authorities focus on preventing the fire from progressing to the neighboring municipality of Guane, but the drought – it takes several months without raining in the province – and the winds, up to 40 kilometers per hour, hinder attempts to quell the fire. The Minas de Matahambre forests, with “abundant combustible material”, have also helped propagation, Yuri Hernández Reinoso, director of the rangers, explained to the official press.
The one of El Arenal, cataloged as “the one with the greatest complexity in the country”, is not the only fire against which the authorities of Pinar del Río fight. Two others have originated in the Provincial Head and the Municipality of Consolation of the South, although of lower proportions.
The authorities have explained that this is one of the 201 fires reported in the country since the beginning of the year
The authorities have explained that this is one of the 201 fires reported in the country since the beginning of the year, of which 12 are still active, most in the western region. Just last month, Another fire In the same municipality he destroyed hundreds of hectares of pine and took several days to be controlled.
At the moment, the head of the Pinar del Río ranger body, Alexander Pereda Burón, the province is in “a high danger of danger” explained to Telepinar. The amount of fires occurred in the territory to date also exceeds the figures of the same period of the previous year.
With more than 411,000 hectares of forests and 48% of its surface covered with trees, Pinar del Río is the second most wooded territory in Cuba, despite the fires that have caused huge ravages in the last two years.
The most critical period for forest fires covers from January to May, which coincides with the dry season, according to the Institution of Razesques.
In 2024, at the end of the Forest Fire Protection Campaign, which takes place in the first five months of the year, the body of rangers reported 326 fires that affected almost 3,000 hectares of forests.
