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A massive wildfire that began on April 10 in the La Lanza area, municipality of Minas de Matahambre, Pinar del Río, has devastated 1,700 hectares of forest and remains uncontrollable, as reported this Saturday by the Cuban News Agency.
The fire has been active for nine days and is spreading through the mountain range without posing a danger to the nearby populated areas, at least for now.
Yuri Hernández Reinoso, duty officer at the command post of the Cuerpo de Guardabosques (CGB) in Pinar del Río, explained that weather conditions remain unfavorable for firefighting efforts. Days earlier, the countermeasure implemented on Wednesday, April 15, also proved ineffective.
"It was not feasible to finish the path they were tracing due to the bulldozer breakdowns; meanwhile, weather conditions continue to be unfavorable for controlling the fire," the official stated.
This incident adds to a broader emergency situation in the province.
Just days ago, it was reported that more than 200 forest rangers from Minas de Matahambre, Mantua, and Viñales, along with workers from the mining company and aided by two bulldozers, were attempting to halt the advance of a fire classified as the first of "very large proportions" in the province during the period from January to May 2026.
Other minor fires
At the same time, park rangers and agricultural workers were battling a large-scale fire in the area known as La Güira, on the borders between the municipalities of Pinar del Río and San Juan y Martínez, which has affected 93 hectares of pine and semi-deciduous forest on acidic soil (white forest).
To quell this fire, a plan similar to that of Minas de Matahambre is being implemented, stated Guerra Corrales. The active hotspots in both cases do not pose a danger to nearby population settlements, but winds with gusts of up to 30 kilometers per hour, the severe drought, and the presence of combustible material complicate control efforts.
The other four fires reported on Thursday in the province were of moderate size; three of them remained active: the fire in La Solita has burned 15 hectares, and the one in La Vigía has burned 10, both located in San Juan and Martínez. Meanwhile, another fire located at kilometer 17 on the road to Luis Lazo, in the northern part of the municipality of Pinar del Río, has damaged 10 hectares of pine forest.
The history of major fires in the region is concerning. In 2025, the Arenales fire devastated more than 3,240 hectares of forests in the same province. Authorities had warned at the end of the previous year that the season would be particularly dangerous, with between 85 and 112 incidents forecasted for the province.
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