Costa Rica: wildfire has consumed 900 hectares
Costa Rica: wildfire has consumed 900 hectares
11 February 2017
published by http://news.co.cr
Costa Rica - A wildfire in the area between Turrubares and Puriscal consumed some 900 hectares of scrub-land and started to affect secondary forest as confirmed by the Costa Rica Fire Department.
More than 40 firemen from different stations have been trying to control the fire which began yesterday in the area of Bolson, Turrubares, the situation worsen because of the strong winds of around 80 kilometers per hour (50 MPH) that have been affecting the country, the topography of the area, and the lack of humidity.
Héctor Chavez, director of the Fire Department has indicated that they were able to control the advance of the flames in some areas, and they have created firewalls in others with the hope of preventing the fire to continue spreading, however, the winds have allowed the fire to sometimes get past the firewalls and affect other zones.
Squads from the Turubari Adventure Park located close by have joined the firemen to try and prevent the fire from affecting the touristic complex.
This is the biggest forest fire there has been so far this season, at the end of January another one affected the area of Nicoya, Guanacaste, but it was quickly controlled, yet it still managed to consume 20 hectares in total, 5 of them of secondary forest.
The reason the fire began is still unknown, the fire department used drones to determine the areas where the trucks where needed most.
The wildfire was almost under control this Saturday night but the firemen will continue supervising the area through Sunday to ensure the flames don´t continue to propagate.
