news and events » news

News Header

News Item

return to News

300 firefighters work to control forest fires in Mexico; no towns in danger

by El Universal staff reports (Mexico City) |

At least 300 firefighters continue to work on a forest fire that covers three municipalities in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, where the flames have continued since last Tuesday.

The director of Natural Areas of the Ministry of the Environment, Arturo Islas, reported that the incident that began last Tuesday was caused by a lightning strike that hit one of the trees in the wooded area of ​​three districts.

So far the fire considered intermunicipal includes the municipalities of El Cardonal, Nicolás Flores and Tlahuelilpan. Islas asserted that, at the moment, it is not possible to have an estimate of how many acres have been affected, because they are still in the control stage.

He specified that due to the type of fire, which is not a glass type, there are no serious risks, in addition to the fact that the closest community, El Potrero, is several hours from the scene of the accident.

He reiterated that there is no risk to the population, for which a call was made to citizens not to share false information since there are no communities that may be at risk from the incident.

He also asked the population not to approach the affected area to allow the development of maneuvers and the transit of emergency vehicles.

At the moment there are at least 300 specialized brigade members working in the place, both from the Ministry of the Environment, the National Forestry Commission, the National Commission for Protected Areas, as well as Civil Protection, Public Security from a dozen municipalities and volunteers.

Islas pointed out that daily evaluations of the work to combat this fire and the meteorological conditions are carried out, since in this entity there are several areas at risk such as Tulancingo, Acaxochitlán, Agua Blanca, Tenango de Doria, Singuilucan, and Cuautepec. In addition to the Marmoles National Park and the Meztitlan Biosphere Reserve.