President Alvaro Uribe announced Thursday that the U.S. will send equipment and assistance teams to help subdue raging forest fires threatening Colombia’s capital, Bogota.
Uribe made the announcement in an interview with Capital Radio, assuring listeners that professional teams from the United States would be arriving with equipment to help combat the flames, reported El Espectador.
Furthermore, the government revealed that due to the severity of the current drought which has taken hold across Colombia, and the potential risks for the population and the environment, they are considering raising the case to national disaster level.
These announcements follow the outbreak of several large fires which have raged since the weekend across countryside on the south-eastern outskirts of Bogota, and further blazes throughout the country caused by the unusually dry climate.
The country’s emergency services have been out in force, attempting to halt the spread of the flames which have already damaged over 350 hectares of countryside and affected some 28,000 people.
Raising the case to the level of a national disaster would mean that authorities would be permitted access to emergency resources to deal with any future events that occur as a result of the dry season.
