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Colombia's Tolima Declares 'Public Calamity' Amid Widespread Forest Fires
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

Colombia's Tolima Declares 'Public Calamity' Amid Widespread Forest Fires

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Tolima department in Colombia has declared a state of "public calamity" due to widespread forest fires.
  • Currently, 39 forest fires are active across 16 municipalities, burning thousands of hectares.
  • The declaration aims to enhance regional response capabilities and secure resources to combat the fires.

The Colombian department of Tolima has declared a state of "public calamity" as numerous large-scale forest fires rage across 16 of its municipalities. The decision by the Departmental Risk Management Council aims to bolster the region's capacity to respond to the escalating crisis.

According to the Tolima Governorate, 39 forest fires are currently active, consuming thousands of hectares in recent days. The declaration is seen as a crucial step to "immediately access other sources" and "obtain resources" needed to fight the flames and improve coordination among response teams.

important step to immediately access other sources and obtain resources to fight the fire, as well as to improve coordination

— Ericka LozanoSecretary of Environment and Risk Management for Tolima, explaining the purpose of the 'public calamity' declaration.

Ericka Lozano, Secretary of Environment and Risk Management for Tolima, stated that the entire departmental and national risk management system is mobilized to extinguish the fires. San Luis is the most severely affected municipality, but fires have also impacted Melgar, Ortega, Valle de San Juan, Honda, Chaparral, Piedras, Alvarado, Coello, Coyaima, Rovira, Purificación, Venadillo, Falan, and Anzoátegui.

The efforts to combat these fires are occurring concurrently with a significant deployment by the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) across the country, following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Colombia earlier in the week, claiming 285 lives.

The entire departmental and national risk management system is active and working to definitively extinguish all these fires

— Ericka LozanoSecretary of Environment and Risk Management for Tolima, on the mobilization of resources.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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