Firefighters work to stop another fire in Palo Verde, Costa Rica.

Each year, summer bring blue skies, a relief from constant downpours, and the high tourist season. But the Costa Rican summer also brings dry environments and several related problems, among them fierce wild fires. This year, tt’s been a long, hot summer, and in Guanacaste, the hottest and driest of the seven Costa Rican provinces, has been hardest hit.

Unfortunately, in the region’s latest news, more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of Palo Verde forest are burning. The wildfire began last Tuesday, April 29, and since then, more than 80 park rangers and firemen have been fighting constantly to control and put out the fire.

Luis Diego Román, from the Ministerio del Ambiente y Energía (MINAE, or the Ministry for Energy and the Environment), says that the raging flames are most concentrated in a section of the park called La Catalina. The affected area includes huge, dry pastures, a forest that was regenerating, and an area for aquatic plants known as typha.

Firefighters are currently using a tractor in an attempt to remove dry greenery — anything that burns — from the area, hoping to control the fire and prevent it from spreading any further. They are also carrying huge quantities of water with them, and are drenching the ground and nearby gullies, hoping to staunch the fire as it expands.

Unfortunately for the hard-working park rangers and firefighters, strong winds, a lack of recent rains, and high temperatures are all working against them, allowing the wildfire to spread and rage with fury. Because of its growing size, the fire is visible from very far away, and though it is centered near Bagaces, distant neighbors in Nicoya and Hojancha are able to see the billowing smoke and affects of the huge wildfire.

Last night, late on May 7, the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (National Emergency Commission) declared the area on protective yellow alert, so that neighboring communities can prepare themselves for the growing fire. If it becomes necessary, some may have to evacuate to avoid the effects of the fire’s huge smoke cloud.

Just over a month ago, northern Guanacaste had gone up in flames, burning between La Cruz and Cuajiniquil. Unlike the current Palo Verde fire, those wildfires were begun by arsonists hoping to escape the area with their poached goods intact and undiscovered.

Though the 600 burned hectares in northern Guanacaste and current 1,000 hectares burning in Palo Verde are horrible events, Minae still states that the past year has seen few fires than the same period in 2007. The organization’s efforts have helped reduce the country’s wildfires by almost half, and with regard to the latest Palo Verde blaze, Román states that area workers hope to have the wildfire under control by the end of today.

Wild blazes are a serious problem in dry, hot Guanacaste, and this year is no different. However, with combine local and national efforts, experts say that the situation has improved, and Guanacaste is in a better position today than it was just a year ago.

Photo courtesy of La Nacion.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on May 8th, 2008