200 volunteers joined on Thursday May 23rd to fight the fire that has devastated 2,200 hectares of forest in Jalpan, state of Querétaro, for 16 days.
“This is a tragedy and that is why we have lend a hand to try to control this fire that is destroying our natural resources,” said volunteer Luis Lara.
Most of the volunteers were summoned through social networks, like the case of Moroccan Hassan Mouhsine, a Querétaro resident who said that he decided to respond to the call published on Facebook, asking for volunteers.
The coordinator of Civil Protection of Queretaro, Gabriel Bastarrachea, stated that the weather conditions, with high temperatures, make it difficult to control the fire.
“There is a containment of 30%, previously it was 50%, but unfortunately the atmospheric conditions were not favorable and this percentage has fallen,” he said.
The state government has managed to obtain the support of two tank helicopters, one from a private company and the other one from the Mexican Air Force, with which it is hoped to improve the possibilities of controlling the fire soon.
“On Thursday, May 23, there were 104 forest fires burning across Mexico, of which 66 are active, 15 are in the process of liquidation and 23 are extinguished”, reported the National Forestry Commission (Conafor).
The total affected area is about 37,518 hectares, of which 20,160 hectares are currently active, 1,075 hectares are in liquidation process and 16,282 hectares for liquidated fireshave been totally controlled and extinguished.
Most affected strata are superficial: shrubs, grasses and herbs that recover early in the rainy season.
