Colombia Declares a Public Calamity as a Wildfire Rips Toward Villa De Leyva
- A wildfire continued burning Monday on the San Marcos hillside above Villa de Leyva, Colombia, after consuming about 200 hectares of native forest, with officials reporting the blaze was about 50% under control.
- This year, an intensified El Niño weather pattern and extreme drought have created tinderbox conditions across the Andean region, fueling nearly 20 active wildfires throughout Colombia during the dry season.
- About 250 local firefighters and residents joined professional crews to combat the flames, while Boyaca Governor Carlos Amaya reported aircraft carried out about 170 water drops Sunday, releasing some 240,000 liters.
- Local authorities declared an emergency Monday, suspending in-person classes and carrying out preventive evacuations for hotels near the fire, which remains visible from Villa de Leyva's central square.
- Colombian President Abelardo pledged to mobilize all state resources to protect "this historical jewel," as Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara confirmed military helicopters and firefighters from Bogota and Tunja are reinforcing containment efforts.
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More than 400 personnel deployed as blaze destroys hotel, threatens high-altitude Andean ecosystem
Public calamity declared amid wildfires
BOGOTA (AP): Colombian authorities declared a public calamity as a wildfire burned through mountains surrounding one of the country’s best-known colonial towns in the northeast, scorching large swaths of vegetation and forcing evacuations. Nearly 20 active fires are burning across the South American country. Dry conditions have increased fire danger in Colombia as it braces for the effects of El Niño, which can help wildfires spread.
Reforma
eldiariodechihuahua.mxFirefighters controlled 75% of the fire that affected Villa de Leyva, Colombian tourist jewel, which dawned covered by smoke.
The fire that began on September 19 at Mount San Marcos has already affected about 290 hectares and led authorities to declare the public calamity The post Colombia faces a new wave of forest fires: Villa de Leyva concentrates the emergency appeared first on Rolling Stone in Spanish.
Alert in Villa de Leyva: voracious forest fire consumes 300 hectares and triggers emergency
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