Drought Causes Thousands Of
Wildfires in Cuba
HAVANA - A thousand forest fires burnt
through Cuba in the first quarter of 2010
alone, Lt. Col. Sergio Zubizarreta, deputy
chief of the Cuban fire department, said
Wednesday. Zubizarreta said the fires were
mainly caused by drought in the dry season
which usually runs from February to May.
Besides, reckless pasture burning, driving
cars without spark arrestors and large
amount of combustible materials and fallen
trees amassed after hurricanes in 2008 were
also causes of wildfires.
Areas at high risk of being affected by
fires are the eastern provinces of Las Tunas
and Camaguey, the western province of Pinar
del Rio and the special municipality of Isla
de la Juventud.
According to officials of the Cuban national
forest ranger corps, some 437 fires were
reported from January to May 2009, some 80
percent of which were caused by negligent
behaviors.
The fire department has pledged to improve
the fire emergency and rescue system at a
time the country is developing a risk
reduction mechanism. |
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