Firefighters finally contained a wildfire Thursday that had burned for more than 100 hours in the Primavera Forest on the western outskirts of the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
The blaze affected almost one-third of the nature reserve, often referred to as Guadalajara’s “lung” for its regulating effect on the local climate. Of the 8,500 hectares seriously damaged by the blaze, 20 percent has been completely destroyed, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon confirmed after flying over the zone Thursday.
The fire was the largest since May 2005, when a massive blaze consumed more than a quarter of the 35,000-hectare forest, forcing metro-area schools to close for two days as contamination levels soared.
This time, prevailing winds mostly took the fire’s smoke away from the urban zone toward the southern part of the state. Poor air quality was noted at some of the city’s eight monitoring stations this week but did not reach the levels required for authorities to issue an emergency smog alert.
Nonetheless, more than 100 school directors decided to suspend classes during the fire, while health department workers distributed more than 12,000 face masks in neighborhoods close to the blaze zone.
On Tuesday evening, smoke drifted over the Guadalajara metropolitan area, presenting health issues for some city dwellers, who mainly complained of scratchy throats, watery eyes and headaches.
According to National Forestry Commission Director Juan Manuel Torres, the blaze started in the early morning of Saturday, April 14 in the Arenales Tapatios neighborhood of Guadalajara.
First reports suggested it began when a controlled fire to burn garbage got out of control. Torres, however, refused to rule out the possibility that the fire was started deliberately, possibly by real-estate developers looking to build on the perimeter of the forest.
On Wednesday, the federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) launched a formal investigation and put out a call for information that might help them identify the perpetrators. They are also investigating a report that armed men refused to allow firefighters into one section of the forest on Sunday morning. Other reports suggest that some shots were fired.
Around 150 firefighters and Civil Protection personnel were called up to battle and contain the fire in its first 24 hours. More were drafted in after winds fanned the flames deeper into the woods. By Wednesday afternoon – when Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez announced the blaze was “100 percent contained” – as many as 900 firefighters and auxiliary workers were on the ground fighting the fire. Five helicopters had been called in to drop water on the flames, while Zapopan city hall hired two “water bombers” from Houston, Texas – at a cost of 2,000 dollars an hour – to help in the effort. These planes, however, were not scheduled to arrive until Thursday, by which time the fire was mostly controlled. Zapopan Mayor Hector Vielma later said that the aircraft might remain in Guadalajara for a month to assist in the recuperation work.
In a huge show of public support fueled by social media, citizens donated tons of supplies for the firefighters, including water, food, bandages, medicines, face masks, eye drops, gloves, helmets, batteries, mattresses, backpacks and lanterns.
Around 30 firefighters received medical treated for various conditions, including smoke inhalation, sprains, cuts and exhaustion.
Gonzalez came in for some criticism for waiting more than 70 hours to visit the “brigadistas” working round the clock to extinguish the blaze. When he finally turned up to lend his support, he tweeted: “My recognition to the firefighters for their professional work” and congratulated them for “working without pause.”
On his return from a four-day visit to the United States Thursday, President Calderon took a detour to Guadalajara to meet with firefighters and review the work of municipal, state and federal agencies. After his helicopter flight over the damaged forest he called the fire a tragedy, not just for the inhabitants of Guadalajara but for all of Mexico.
Staff responsible for caring for the varied species of wildlife in the forest say they attended to 15 animals that became disoriented by the fire.
Experts from the University of Guadalajara (UdG) slammed the state government’s feeble response to the fire and warned that the damaged part of the forest would take at least ten years to fully recover, even if rapid reforestation takes place.
Civic groups have already surfaced on social media sites preparing reforestation programs in the Primavera for later in the year.
Although the Primavera was declared a federally protected area in 1980, it is still 85 percent privately owned. Despite laws prohibiting construction in the reserve, there is immense pressure on authorities to change the zoning regulations and allow further building.
Repeated calls were made this week for government expropriation of the Primavera’s land to ensure its future survival. Gonzlaez said he will seek to protect the forest additionally by pushing for it to be designated an Organismo Publico Descentralizado (decentralized public entity).