Firefighters and army forces were continuing efforts late last night and early this morning to control fires that spread during the day in forested areas in northern Morocco, authorities told AFP.
The fires, fueled by strong winds, have so far caused no casualties, but have led to the evacuation of nearly 500 families from their homes, “as a precaution”, in the provinces of Lara and Taza.
The fires are raging in mountainous forest areas, difficult to access, in the provinces of Laras, Ouezanne, Tetouan and Taza, explained Fouad Assali, the director of the Center for the Management of Climatic Forest Risks (CRCF).
Many duars (villages) had to be evacuated. Four military Canadair firefighting aircraft and four other aircraft normally used for field spraying made drops in the afternoon in Xar El Kembir district.
Amid stifling heat – the temperature has been steadily above 40° Celsius for days –, surprised by the speed with which the fire spread, villagers hurried to leave their homes, taking cattle and horses with them, when they had this ability. A small village in the district of Xar El Kembir was burnt to the ground.
“Efforts are continuing in the hope that we will be able to bring the fires under control in the next few hours,” Mr Assali told Moroccan news agency MAP yesterday afternoon.
“Last night, I was with the family and at one point I heard people shouting: ‘Fire! Fire!’. We went out to leave and luckily, thank God, the fire went towards the mountain,” said Samir Boudad, a young man who lives in Laras.
Heat
Hundreds of members of the Civil Protection, the Water Resources and Forestry service, the Moroccan armed forces and the gendarmerie, with the help of volunteers, are participating in the effort to control the flames. Around 100 fire engines, water tankers, ambulances and construction machinery have also been mobilized.
In total, some ten thousand hectares of forest have been destroyed since Wednesday night in the provinces of Lara, Uezan and Taza, according to the authorities.
For the last twenty-four hours the kingdom has been hit by a heat wave with temperatures approaching 45° Celsius, against a backdrop of drought and water scarcity.
On the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, fires broke out across much of southern Europe, from Portugal to Greece, through Spain and France.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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