A forest fire that broke out Sunday, March 29 in the mountain range bordering Lake Chapala’s north shore was extinguished thanks to the prompt intervention of various firefighting squads.
The fire was detected around 2:45 p.m. when a column of smoke appeared at the summit of El Picacho, located in the Cerro Viejo-Chupinaya-Los Sabinos natural reserve. Helicopters deployed by Jalisco’s Environment Ministry (Semadet) and the Tlajomulco de Zuñiga municipality hauled loads of water from the lake, while brigades from the National Forestry Commission, the fire departments of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Chapala and the volunteer Brigada Xupinayatl Ajijic fought the blaze on the ground. The flames were fully extinguished shortly before 10 p.m., leaving an estimated five hectares of scorched earth in their wake.