Brazil reinforces firefighters in Amazon state

www.enn.com 13 March 2003 By Reuters

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazilian environmental authorities reinforced the fight against spreading forest fires in the Amazon state of Roraima Wednesday, which has prompted fears of a repeat of the damage caused by a devastating 1998 blaze.

The government's environmental agency Ibama said two more helicopters and 55 extra firefighters have been dispatched to the northern Amazon state, bringing the total number of firefighters in the state to 500.

Environment Minister Marina Silva met with environmental authorities from the Amazon region on Wednesday and said the government was working flat out to prevent a repeat of 1998, when 185 square miles of forest was destroyed.

About 23 square miles has been destroyed so far in the current fires. "We are working with about 500 men, 5 helicopters, and 15 vehicles to prevent that (1998) from happening," Silva said.

Up to 30 percent of the world's animal and plant life is found only in the Amazon, which is larger than western Europe.

Fires typically spread out across the remote northern state of Roraima — which borders on Venezuela — during this time of year as farmers burn their land in preparation for the sowing period. Fighting fires in the state is made harder by the fact that forest is interspersed with mountain savanna which burns more easily. An unusually dry period this year has led to more fires than normal burning out of control.

Paulo Cesar Mendes Ramos, head of Ibama's national fire prevention center, said, "If we have a prolonged period of drought things could become serious." Without rain soon, the fires could become as large as in 1998, he said.

In the last week, nearly 400 so-called "hot spots" were detected in the state, indicating danger of fires, including in special conservation and Indian areas. Two towns have been put on alert. Another huge forest fire blazed in recent weeks in Roraima's neighboring state, Amazonas.