2010 Bolivia forest fires



The 2010 Bolivia forest fires led the country's government to declare a state of emergency, as wildfires spread across the country. More than 25,000 fires are burning across 15000 km2. These raging fires have destroyed nearly sixty homes. Bolivia is unable to combat the fires properly as it does not have enough water bombing aircraft.

There was a steep jump in fire hot-spots from 17,000 on Sunday August 15 to approximately 25,000 three days later. Some of the blazes were so strong that firefighters were unable to get close enough to contain them. The head of Bolivia's forestry service, Weimar Becerra, described the fires as "a total disaster, it is an environmental disaster. We have six forest fires which have a height of 50 m and are growing, and as a country we do not have the capacity to put them out".

Damage
Currently the worst of the damage has been to the country's section of the Amazon. The fire is largest in the eastern part along the country's border with Brazil. Smoke from the fires has halted numerous flights and forced many smaller airports to close temporarily. Despite being enveloped in smoke, Bolivia's main international airport in Santa Cruz has stayed open, while 23 regional airports have been closed down. According to Cliver Rojas from Bolivia's forests/land department, the most affected region was the Amazonian province of Pando in the north.

Help from neighboring countries
The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said that he requested that his neighboring countries, Brazil and Argentina, help with the efforts, but, as of August 21, 2010, help had not been received.

Cause
Farmers using fire to clear land for planting combined with extreme drought caused the plants to dry out, allowing the fires to run rampant.