A forest fire that has been raging in Colombia for three days, has consumed at least 250 acres of land in the central Colombian department of Boyaca, according to local media.
The fire started on Friday just outside of the municipality of Nobsa, four and half hours north of Colombia’s capital city of Bogota, and the authorities have not be able to subdue the inferno.
“This is a very terrible fire that has consumed [250 acres] of native forest vegetation, in the site where the city’s potable water resides,” said Nobsa’s mayor, Ramiro Barragan.
Local firefighters, the Aerial Forces of Colombia, and the Army have all aided in attempting to put out the flames, yet they continue to do damage. Barragan has attributed some of the difficulty to fight the fire to very strong winds, according to El Espectador newspaper.
While the secretary of the government of Nobsa that “some unscrupulous persons” could have something to do with the start of the fire, no official investigation has determined the origin of the conflagration.
There have been many incidents of forest fires in Colombia recently due to extreme drought in certain areas, though most have been localized to more norther parts of the country.
MORE: Wildfires spread across Colombia
Sources
- Incendio consume unas 100 hectáreas de bosque nativo en Boyacá (El Espectador)