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Fires in Peru destroy crops, threaten archaeological sites

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  • Fires in Peru destroy crops, threaten archaeological sites
  • September 20, 2024
  • Article Body Text lima, peru — <p>Peruvian authorities scrambled to roll out a plan to fight fires raging out of control across the nation, razing crops, damaging archaeological treasures, and leaving several regions in a state of disaster on Thursday. </p> <p>Firefighters said battling the blazes has grown increasingly difficult. </p> <p>&quot;We're tired,&quot; said a volunteer firefighter in the forests of the northern Amazonas region who declined to give his name. &quot;We put the fire out, it lights back up. We put it out, the fire breaks out again.&quot; </p> <p>Firefighters in the area retreated from the flames on Thursday.</p> <p>&quot;They're out of control,&quot; said Arturo Morales, another volunteer firefighter. &quot;We need help.&quot; </p> <p>President Dina Boluarte on Wednesday declared a 60-day state of emergency in the San Martin, Amazonas and Ucayali regions, allocating extra resources to stop the fires from spreading. </p> <p>&quot;We're rolling out everything we have,&quot; Boluarte said in a speech. She called on farmers to stop burning grasslands, which she said caused flames to spread out of control.  </p> <p>Forest fires in Peru are frequent from August to November, either caused by farmers or those who are looking to illegally take over land, according to the government. </p> <p>Around 240 fires have broken out this season in 22 of the country's 25 regions, though more than 80% had been controlled by Wednesday.  </p> <p>Some, however, are threatening to spark up again with dry weather, winds and their remote locations making them difficult to access. </p> <p>The flames have reached seven archaeological sites, according to the culture ministry, and are threatening the Indigenous Shipibo-Konibo community in the Amazon. </p> <p>In total, nearly 2,300 hectares of farmland have burned and 140 people have been injured, according to official data through Wednesday. </p> <p>South America is being ravaged by fire from Brazil's Amazon rainforest through the world's largest wetlands to dry forests in Bolivia, breaking a previous record for the number of blazes seen in a year. </p>
  • Content Type Text
  • Language English
  • NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
  • Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
  • Network VOA
  • Embargo Date September 19, 2024 22:28 EDT
  • Byline Reuters
  • Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English
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