Wildfires Common During Dry Season In Costa Rica
Wildfires Common During Dry Season In Costa Rica
17 February 2011
published by www.insidecostarica.com
Costa Rica — The summer or “dry” season in Costa Rica means hot and sunny days. But it also means wild fires in land not in use or “charrales” in Spanish.
The Bomberos de Costa Rica (fire department) reports attending an average of 22 wild fires daily, for a total of more than one thousand calls throughout the country in the last two months.
Strong winds and dry plants are the main enemies of the Liberica, Guancaste, Bomberos who constantly battle wild fires on the sides of the Interamericana Norte.
San José and Guanacaste are the provinces with the highest incidents of wild fires.
In 2009, Bomberos reports attending a total of 5.562 wild fires and 5.058 the year before.
Fortunately only person has been reported losing their life. Bomberos also blame wild fires for the destruction of eight homes.
Ley 8228 prohibits “burns”, a practice by many landowners to eliminate weeds, which sometimes gets out of control.