Guatemala Fire Emergency Assistance Request, 27 June 2001
WildlandFire Emergency in Guatemala
21March 2003, 10:20 GMT
Situation on Friday, 21 March 2003
The GFMChas received a request through the FAO Forestry Department concerning theongoing fire emergency. Through the FAO office in Guatemala the following SITREPhas been given:
The FAOOffice has received a request by the Vice Minister for Agriculture, Livestockand Nutrition to seek for international emergency assistance to control theextensive forest fires that are occurring in the country. Most fires areoccurring in Petén and are affecting tropical primary and secondary forests.According to the last reports more than 54 large fires have affected 300,000 haforests including reforested and cultivated lands.
The GFMCis currently seeking ways to channel assessment and emergency assistancecapabilities to Guatemala through the UNEP-OCHA Joint Environment Unit, EmergencyServices Branch UNEP-OCHA, FAO, the German Foreign Office, Office for HumanitarianAssistance, and the German Agency for Techncial Cooperation.
CONRED (Coordinadora Nacional para Reducción deDesastres) fire emergency update
Visualimpressions and media reports
Rainforest fire burning in Petén. Source and copyright: Prensa Libre, Guatemala, 21March 2003
PressReport “Incendiosen Petén – Emergencia: Siniestros forestales están fuera de control por lasaltas temperaturas y fuertes vientos; fuego en bosques se extiende desdeverapaces hacia el norte“ (Prensa LibeReport, 20and 21 March 2003) (PDF)
Satellite images of current fires in Guatemala and neighbouring countries of Mesoamerica:
Satellite
Images
20030320
SatelliteTerra
16.40 UTC
2 km
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
250m
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
2 km
pixel size
NDVI
250 m
pixel size
NDVI
Satellite
Images
20030319
SatelliteAqua
18.55 UTC
2 km
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
250m
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
2 km
pixel size
Band 7-2-1I
250 m
pixel size
NDVI
Satellite
Images
20030318
Satellite.Terra
18.55 UTC
and Aqua
19.50 UTC
2 km
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
250m
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
2 km
pixel size
Band 7-2-1I
250 m
pixel size
Bands 1-4-3
These images were acquired by the
Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
sensor onthe satellites Terra and Aqua showing fires burning in MesoAmerica.
Figure1. Areas of forestfire control responsibility in Petén, Guatemala. Source:
Comisión de Incendios Forestales de Petén.
Figure2. Topographicfeatures of Petén, Guatemala. Source: Comisión de Incendios Forestales de Petén.
Figure3. Wildland firesusceptibility map of Petén, Guatemala. Legend of susceptibility:
Green = low; yellow = medium; red = high. Source: Comisión de Incendios Forestales de Petén.
Figure 4. Raod map for Petén. Source: Sistema de Información para las
Áreas Protegidas de Petén (SI PETEN)
Figure 5. Language map for Petén. Source: Sistema de Información para
las Áreas Protegidas de Petén (SI PETEN)
Regional Mesoamerica Wildland Fire Network: Regional andnational widland fire status reports
The website of the regional Mesoamerica network conatins a largenumber of national and regional analyses on wildland fire, including thesituation in Petén, Guatemala:
https://gfmc.online/GlobalNetworks/MesoAmerica/MesoAmerica.html
Sistema Nacional de Prevención y Control de Incendios Forestales (SIPECIF)
http://www.sipecif.gob.gt/portal.html
