The state coordination of Civil Protection in Yucatan (Procivy) is gearing up for fire season, Yucatan’s time for clearing brush and renewing soil in the countryside.
Fire season in Yucatan runs from March 1 to the end of May. Sixteen fire brigades will be deployed with 192 people in all areas of the state. More than 215 hectares were burned, either deliberately or not, in 2018.
Procivy Director Enrique Alcocer Basto said that in the driest and hottest season of the world, field fire mishaps tend to intensify, so their support units are mobilized.
The Fire Committee includes the Secretariat of Rural Development (Seder), the Army, Navy and the Ministry of Public Security ( SSP).
Each brigade is made up of 12 people to control the fire.
Under traditional milpa practices, patches of forest are cut and burned to regenerate the soil, or simply clear land for crops.
Related: A farmer modifies his milpa technique in an age of climate change.
“For several years in those three months we have been directly fighting the fires, which are mostly brush, so that specialized bodies such as the National Forestry Commission (Conafor) can attend forest fires without being distracted by smaller fires, while the elements of the fire department can also attend other urban fires of greater intensity,” said Alcocer Basto.
Source: SIPSE
