QUITO (AP) — There are signs that wildfires on the outskirts of Ecuador’s capital that have been burning for more than 24 hours were started intentionally, Quito Mayor Pabel Muñoz said Thursday.
The way the fire was ignited at three points simultaneously suggests that it was started by “arsonists,” the official told the Teleamazonas channel. Muñoz described the incident as a “criminal” act and asked the police to identify those responsible.
By midday, three fires were reported in the capital. The largest was in a ravine northeast of the city, where the fire was fueled by strong winds that suddenly changed direction. The flames were spreading through the treetops, reaching a height of 15 to 20 meters, the Quito Fire Department confirmed to AP.
Amid the smoke, residents of a nearby area supported the work by passing containers of water from hand to hand, in an attempt to prevent the flames from spreading from the ravines to the homes.
The Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in more than 20 schools in Quito today due to poor air quality. The measure was extended until Friday and expanded to 32 educational institutions in six parishes.
Authorities have urged children, the elderly and people with respiratory illnesses to avoid going outside and, if necessary, to take precautionary measures and wear face masks to combat the polluting effects of smoke and airborne particles.
“The air quality in Quito has been affected,” Muñoz said earlier. He also reported that thousands of animals from a poultry farm and 20 heads of cattle died on Wednesday from asphyxiation. On Wednesday afternoon and evening, 45 people were evacuated from the affected areas.
The Municipal Environment Department warned in a statement about the presence of haze in the north and center of the capital affecting seven neighborhoods, and recommended closing windows and doors and avoiding outdoor activities.
Valeria Díaz, a technician at that agency, explained to The Associated Press that “pollution is beginning to rise” as the hours pass due to the lingering gases in the air that are carried by the winds, in addition to the smoke from the fires that are still active.
“We can already smell the smoke again,” said Díaz, “and it is recommended that people who are sensitive to the smoke or have respiratory illnesses wear face masks.”
At present, some 600 people are deployed to combat the scourge.
In the morning hours, the coming and going of the firefighters’ helicopter with the water discharge system was noticeable in the city, as well as the wailing of the sirens of the tanker trucks. Even so, in the streets of northern Quito, where the atmosphere seemed clear, few people wore face masks.
Ecuador is facing a dry season in much of the country and the winds and high temperatures, as well as low humidity, create a favorable scenario for forest fires.
According to the latest report from the Risk Management Secretariat, 11 fires are active in the country and another seven are under control.
Air quality is also affected in Cuenca, 300 kilometres south of the capital, due to one of the largest forest fires in the country in recent years, which has consumed nearly 5,000 hectares.
