Fire consumes more than 300 hectares of forest in Pinar del Río

Andlarge forest fire devouredmore than 300 hectares of forest, mainly pine forests, in the mountains of the Sierra de los Órganos, in the north of the province of Pinar del Río, according to reports from Cuban authorities.

The fire, the first of great magnitude to be recorded this year in Pinar del Río, originated this Monday in Alto de Manaca and spread to the area of Cayo Grande, in the municipality of Viñales.

The lieutenant colonelAlexander Pereda Burón, head of the Forest Ranger Corps (CGB) in the province, told the newspaperGranma that the flames expanded due to the difficulty of accessing that area, the drought and the wind, and assured thatThe population is not in danger because that area is purely forest.

Around 100 men from the Forest Ranger Corps (CGB) and several Agricultural companies participate in extinguishing the fire, using heavy equipment to open trails to help contain it, Pereda reported.

According to the note, on Wednesday morning “work was being done to try to surround the incident and other specialized technical measures,” in addition to repairing roads that would make it possible to reach the head of the fire.

April is one of the months with the highest incidence of forest fires, the most critical period of which runs from January to May, Pereda recalled.

In apreliminary report published on social networks, the communicator and specialist in forestry sciencesOsbel Benítez Polo I affirm thatAs of Tuesday night, the fire was more than 90% controlled..

During the night, the personnel participating in extinguishing the fire would work with the bulldozer and make firebreak and anti-candle trails, to try to fully control the flames, as explained.Leduhan Menendez Cardentey, director of the Pinar del Río Agroforestry Company.

In an update on the event, Benítez said that on Wednesday morning the fire was already under control. “We have to work on different fronts to prevent the already cooled outbreaks from being revived and achieve their complete extinction,” he said.

He also publishedsatellite images of the active fire map in which the approximate location where a fire point occurred, the extension and magnitude of the incident are observed.

The specialist warned that it is necessary to "carry out in time what is established in the management plans described by the forest management of each company, only in this way can these risks of danger and occurrence be brought to a minimum."

Autoridades del Ministerio del Interior (Minint) investigating the causes of the incident.

So far this year, there have been reportsforest fires of great magnitude in several Cuban provinces.

One of the most recentIt broke out on a hill near the city of Santiago de Cuba, threatening homes in the urban center closest to the damaged area and creating concern among neighbors.

AlsoIn the city of Santa Clara, in Villa Clara, a fire was reported that devastated a forest area near the Los Caneyes hotel. The incident affected the electrical service in a circuit in the capital of Villa Clara.

In January, aLarge fire consumed protected forest areas in the towns of Tres Fiebres, in Moa, and Alto de Cruzata, Yateras, belonging to the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (PNAH), in the provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo.