View of the fire that affects the State of Nuevo León, in northern Mexico.Miguel Sierra / EFE
The fires that began in the northern state of Coahuila since the beginning of the week have spread to Nuevo León and have already destroyed more than 7,000 hectares of forest.
The environmental authorities are trying to stop the fire by moving 643 brigades and five helicopters to the affected areas, which include protected areas.
At least 80 houses have been destroyed and 400 people have been evicted from communities at risk by the disaster.
The authorities of both states suspect that the fire was caused and that it has spread due to weather conditions in the north of the country.
"High temperatures, advanced drought, little humidity in the vegetation, among others, increase the risk of fires," explained Jaime Rodríguez, governor of Nuevo León.
Rodríguez, nicknamed El Bronco, who has launched a request for solidarity to combat the ravages of the incident, has presented a "comprehensive plan" of prevention, rehabilitation and support measures for families evicted from their communities.
That plan, he said, consists of repairing the drinking water and electricity systems, as well as help for the reconstruction of the destroyed houses, through the welfare programs of the local government.
The governor has reported that five people who were missing were located without injuries.
So far no fatalities from the fires have been reported.
“Today the work continues.
To the affected families, I say: you are not alone, I will give everything in my power to reduce the damage caused by this unfortunate event, ”Rodríguez said.
Northern Mexico is facing one of the worst fires in recent years, aggravated by the critical situation in the region, with an intense drought that has burned it since last year.
February has been an especially dry month, with a record of rainfall below the average throughout the country, but mainly affecting the northeastern regions of Mexico, according to the Drought Monitoring of the National Water Commission (Conagua).
The drought map prepared by this entity shows that 30% of the territory of Nuevo León suffers a severe drought and 4% of the State is extreme, while 76% of Coahuila has a moderate drought.
The fires in northern Mexico have affected the Papigochi Flora and Fauna Protection Area, in Coahuila, and the Bajo Río San Juan Natural Resources Protection Area, shared by Coahuila and Nuevo León.
“Since the report of each of the fires, attention has been provided, adding human and material resources with other agencies such as the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena), the National Guard, State Government, Civil Protection, municipal governments, people from civil associations , people who own the forest lands and civil organizations, who together are already working a total of 651 combatants ”, has informed Conafor.
In addition to the fires in the north, Mexico has 51 active forest losses in 15 states, affecting a total of 8,643 hectares.
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