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Pinar del Río recorded 48 wildfires between January 1 and May 31, 2026, with 94% of them caused by human negligence, according to reported today by the Forestry Corps of the province.
Rubén Guerra Corrales, head of fire management and handling at the Forest Rangers Corps, identified the main causes: vehicles without spark arresters, poachers and illegal fishermen, hive raiders, and burns for various purposes.
Only 6% of the incidents had a natural origin, specifically due to lightning strikes.
The flames affected 2,995 hectares of forests during that period, which historically coincides with the time of least rainfall in Cuba and the highest occurrence of wildfires.
The municipalities with the highest number of incidents were Pinar del Río, Minas de Matahambre, and San Juan y Martínez, with the latter two suffering the most significant damage.
Guerra Corrales specified that, of the 48 fires recorded, one was classified as a large-scale fire and two as very large-scale fires.
The most serious incident of the season was at La Lanza, in Minas de Matahambre, which began on April 10 and was brought under control on April 20 after being active for 12 days, affecting approximately 1,700 hectares of pine forests and involving more than 200 personnel mobilized for its extinguishment.
At the most critical point of the season, on April 17, there were six active wildfires simultaneously in the province, with over 760 hectares aflame.
Nationwide, between January and April 30, 2026, there were recorded 111 forest fires in Cuba, with 3,174 hectares affected, making Pinar del Río the hardest-hit province with 46 of these incidents.
Pinar del Río has over 411,000 hectares of forests, which accounts for 48% of its area, making it the Cuban province with the highest forest risk.
By the end of December 2025, the official forecast had already warned of a very active season for Pinar del Río, with between 85 and 112 possible fires and up to 4,000 hectares at risk, exacerbated by drought and the accumulation of combustible material.
The figure for 2026 represents, however, a significant reduction compared to the same period the previous year: from January to May 2025, there were 97 incidents recorded in the province, causing damage to 8,691 hectares of forests, and most of these were also caused by human negligence.
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