The Cuban Ranger Corps (CGB) managed to control the Forest fire of great proportions that since Monday burned 1472 hectares (ha) in the province of Pinar del Río. They also extinguished another unleashed since Friday.
This second of these two fires began in an area near the town of Mantua in Pinar del Río and it was difficult to put it out due to the speed of the winds and the humidity, he told the agency Latin Press the deputy head of the CGB in the province, Andy Valle.
Valle described the situation as “complex” and “unprecedented” because two fires coincided: the one of great proportions and the another minor, which affected in the area of Montezuelo about 181 ha, and which has already been extinguished.
The accumulated low rainfall and the persistent drought are very important factors in the so-called critical period of forest fires in Cuba, between January 1 and May 31.
Several fires affected the island in recent weeks. The one registered in Pinares de Mayarí, which is already controlled, destroyed more than 5,000 ha of forest, according to the latest estimates.
Cuba reported 284 forest fires last year that affected more than 1,800 hectares of forest; of them, 90% were provoked, according to the CGB cited by efe.
The cause of a good part of these disasters is attributed to the unauthorized burning of herbs or sugar cane, the use of vehicles without spark arrestors and the activity of poachers.
