Forest fires in Colombia have torched almost 35,000 acres of land since June, authorities said Sunday.
According to the country’s disaster management office UNGRD, a total of 440 fires have broken out during the dry season that started in June and is expected to end before the end of this month.
The hardest hit by the forest fires are the departments of Cauca, Casanare, Tolima, Huila, Valle del Cauca and Cundinamarca, the UNGRD said in a report.
Ricardo Lozcano, the director of Colombia’s weather institute IDEAM, told newspaper El Colombiano that the year’s second dry season, usually lasting from mid-September to mid-December, will bring some relief.
However, the meteorologist warned for weather phenomenon El Niño that is expected to bring higher tempreatures and more extreme drought in January.