Forest fires in Tepoztlán, in pictures

1The fire started on Sunday night in the Malinalapa area and has affected the town of Santo Domingo and other areas of the Tepozteco hill, in the heart of the municipality's forest and archaeological zone.

In the image, the hills are consumed by fire on April 12.

Margarito Pérez CUARTOSCURO

2 The authorities affirm that until this Wednesday morning more than 50% of the fire had been controlled and 20%, liquidated.

Margarito Perez Cuartoscuro

3More than 257 combatants and technicians support to extinguish the fire, which has been active for four days.

Tepoztlán City Council

4 The authorities had warned since the beginning of March of the risk of fires during the dry season and prohibited access to visitors to the hills of Tepoztlán, some 80 kilometers south of Mexico City.

Margarito Pérez CUARTOSCURO

5Two helicopters from the National Water Commission and another from the Army have arrived to support the tasks.

In the image, a helicopter works to put out the fire yesterday.

Margarito López CUARTOSCURO

6The badgers of Santo Domingo, among other community brigades, claim that the aircraft took too long to reach the points of difficult access by land, although the federal and state governments have defended that the attention has been timely.

Tepoztlán City Council

7 Civil Protection personnel have attributed the fire to the drought that has affected more than 80% of the country's territory in recent days.

Margarito Perez Cuartoscuro

8The fire spread throughout Monday before the air support arrived, while the complaints of the inhabitants and calls for help multiplied on social networks.

Tepoztlán City Council

9In all of Mexico there are almost 70 simultaneous forest fires and the one in Tepoztlán is one of the five most extensive.

The government forecast is that most of the fire can be put out by the end of this week.

Margarito Perez Cuartoscuro

10Fires are recurring at this time of year.

Officials from the three levels of government have insisted that the inhabitants are out of danger, as long as they follow the recommendations and allow trained fighters to take charge of containing the fire.

Margarito Pérez CUARTOSCURO