Forest fires continue to cause havoc in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, this time indigenous communities settled in the town of La Mina, jurisdiction of Valledupar, warn about fire outbreaks in the middle of the hill, without the causes being known so far of the origin of the flames.
Through a statement published on social networks, the Communication Commission of the Kankumo Indigenous People, reported that in Cerro del Tamaco, forest fires are starting that can expand and cause serious damage to the settlements located in the area.
They urgently call on the Risk Management authorities of the Mayor’s Office and Government of Cesar, as well as the Firefighters and different relief agencies to reach the site and spread the fire.
Through photographs, the indigenous people warned about the presence of flames in the hills, affecting the flora and fauna of the largest plant lung in the world, and that if left unaddressed it could spread on a large scale. Indigenous settlements are also affected.
According to the Ideam technical report 022, due to the precipitation and maximum temperature that have occurred in recent days, there are conditions of some type of threat due to the probability of the occurrence of vegetation cover fires in some sectors of the Caribbean regions. , Andean, Pacific, Amazonia and Orinoquia.
Regarding the department of Cesar, the 25 municipalities are on red alert due to threats of forest fires: Aguachica, Agustín Codazzi, Astrea, Becerril, Bosconia, Chimichagua, Chiriguaná, Curumaní, El Copey, El Paso, Gamarra, González, La Gloria, La Jagua de Ibirico, La Paz, Manaure Balcón Del Cesar, Pailitas, Pelaya, Pueblo Bello, Río De Oro, San Alberto, San Diego, San Martín, Tamalameque and Valledupar.
For this reason, Ideam recommends that the community in general, tourists and walkers properly extinguish bonfires and not leave glass-type waste that serves as concentrating elements for solar radiation and also report to the authorities in the event of fires.
To the departmental and municipal councils, the regional and local environmental authorities, keep fire prevention and response plans active in order to prevent the occurrence and spread of fires, especially in forest reserve areas and the National System of National Natural Parks. .
Regional and local firefighting systems have the necessary elements for timely attention to fire events of vegetation cover.
In Cesar, the authorities recently installed the Crisis Room to face the effects of the El Niño Phenomenon, which will allow constant monitoring to act in the event of an event.
The head of the Risk Management Office, Petra Romero, said that the 25 mayors have already been asked to sign the administrative agreements with the relief agencies, to promptly carry out prevention actions, attend to forest fires and other situations. of emergencies that arise in their territories.