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(CNN) - With temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius, according to a cable published by ABI, Bolivia's volunteer firefighters fight the flames in the region known as the Bolivian Chiquitanía.
How many hectares and municipalities have been affected?
Latest reports from the government of the department of Santa Cruz state that, up to now, 1,100,000 hectares would have been consumed by fire in this region, nine municipalities were affected and thirty forest fires were active in the region, according to reports from the Government from the Department of Santa Cruz.
MIRA: Activist talks about the impact of fires on the flora and fauna of Bolivia
The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, gave a press conference on Thursday where he reported that the heat sources were reduced from 8,000 to 342 in the Chiquitanía.
Aerial view of smoke coming out of a fire near Charagua in Bolivia, on the border with Paraguay, south of the Amazon basin, on August 29, 2019. - The fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares of forests and grasslands in Bolivia This year, the government said Wednesday, although environmentalists claim that the true figure is much higher. (AIZAR RALDES / AFP / Getty Images)
Time, one of the problems
The head of the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service, Cristina Chirinos, reported Thursday that she declared herself “orange alert” in the department of Santa Cruz and pointed to the weather as one of the factors that have influenced so that the fire does not yield: “The temperatures are still going to rise due to the clear skies and very few clouds that will be recorded until Friday. ”
LEE: Argentine military seeks to help put out fires in Bolivia
Difficulties with environmental equipment and normal
To these meteorological conditions are added some problems with the equipment to extinguish the fires, as indicated to Gloria Carrasco, of CNN in Spanish, the national coordinator of the Foundation of Rescue and Rescue Volunteers, Carlos Azcárraga: “While we have the equipment basic, but not the specialized ones to deal with forest fires, and many of those are destroyed depending on the amount of hours of exercise and fatigue. ”
On the other hand, Paola Weber, coordinator of the Departmental Emergency Operations Center, said in an interview with CNN in Spanish that the difficulty in extinguishing the fire is not due to a structural failure, but to “breach of norms, norms that go against of the environment, so that does not help us to accomplish the work we have been doing. ”
MIRA: Evo Morales acted as a firefighter in the Amazon region of Bolivia
The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, goes further and points out: “The main cause of large fires that, unfortunately, are also registered in other continents, is the #Climatic Change, which is the responsibility of all countries in the world. The Paris Agreement must be complied with, especially in industrialized countries, ”Morales said in a tweet.
The main cause of large fires that, unfortunately, are also recorded in other continents, is the #Climatic Change that is the responsibility of all countries in the world. The Paris Agreement must be complied with, especially in industrialized countries #UnidadEnLaAdversidad
- Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) August 29, 2019
Bolivia climate change Evo Morales