Large fire affects southern Ecuador

Large tongues of fire spread rapidly on Thursday due to intense summer weather and strong winds on a hill in southern Ecuador, where firefighters from three cities were trying to control the situation.

The Risk Management Secretariat indicated that the forest fire “is spreading towards the Sulupali sector” of the town of Santa Isabel despite the action of the firefighters. The fire has already consumed 140 hectares but has not damaged any homes.

He stressed that firefighters from the town of Nabón are advancing towards another front of the fire, in the Yaritzagua area, “to carry out an inspection of the area and determine preventive actions,” while members of the Red Cross have been mobilized to the sector “to provide pre-hospital care to the personnel working on the forest fire.”

According to images and videos shared on social media, a large barrier of fire can be seen between the mountains of a rural area called Pichanillas, some 330 kilometers south of the capital, while gigantic clouds of smoke rise and are visible from kilometers away.

The fire department of the city of Cuenca, the third largest in the country, reported on X that dozens of firefighters from that city along with those from the towns of Girón and Santa Isabel are fighting the fire, which started on Tuesday for reasons that are still unknown and has not yet been brought under control.

He added that due to the characteristics of the place, it is not possible to enter with tanker trucks, fire engines or fire fighting vehicles, but rather on foot with manual equipment. The fire has consumed grasslands, moor vegetation and is affecting animal species that live in that place, the authorities said.

Last year, according to the Risk Management Secretariat, some 20,000 hectares were consumed by forest fires, especially in the summer season.

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