Colombia declares a public calamity as a wildfire rips toward Villa de Leyva

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian authorities declared a public calamity as a wildfire burned through mountains surrounding one of the country’s best-known colonial towns in the northeast, scorching large swaths of vegetation and forcing evacuations.

Nearly 20 active fires are burning across the South American country.

Dry conditions have increased fire danger in Colombia as it braces for the effects of El Nino, which can help wildfires spread.

Fire affects tourist area in Colombia

The fire in Villa de Leyva, a popular tourist destination about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of the capital, Bogota, began Saturday on a mountain overlooking the town. By Sunday evening, authorities said about 290 hectares (717 acres) had been affected — an area roughly equivalent to 400 soccer fields — and the blaze was about 50% under control.

Strong winds have complicated efforts to contain the flames, which at times advanced toward populated areas. Local authorities declared an emergency, suspended in-person classes Monday and carried out preventive evacuations, including at hotels near the fire.

More than 400 firefighters, emergency workers, residents and volunteers took part in the response, while four helicopters dropped water on the flames. Carlos Amaya, governor of Boyaca state, where Villa de Leyva is located, said aircraft carried out about 170 water drops Sunday, releasing some 240,000 liters (63,400 gallons).

Environment Minister Fabio Arjona said preliminary information from the disaster management agency suggested it may have been deliberately started, but authorities were still investigating.

President Abelardo De La Espriella said Sunday on X the Villa de Leyva fire was about 50% controlled and contained on the ground.

Colombia’s national disaster management agency said in its latest nationwide update that authorities were monitoring 27 forest fires, with 19 still active and eight under control. Nine of the active fires were in Tolima, a mountainous region southwest of Bogotá, while others were burning across several parts of the country’s Andean region.

The weather agency said last week that 279 municipalities were under some level of wildfire warning, including 36 under its highest, red-alert level, with much of the risk concentrated in the Andean and Caribbean regions.

“What we are seeing in Colombia is devastating and cannot be understood as a series of isolated events,” said Laura Caicedo Valencia, a campaign coordinator at Greenpeace Colombia. “When wildfires, many of them linked to human activity, combine with increasingly dry and extreme conditions, worsened by the climate crisis and a strengthening El Nino, the consequences can quickly turn into an environmental and social tragedy.”

Between June 16 and Aug. 6, Colombia recorded 438 forest fires in 191 municipalities, affecting about 7,153 hectares (17,675 acres) of vegetation, according to government figures.

Ecuador battles wildfires

Neighboring Ecuador is also battling a wave of wildfires.

Ecuador’s national risk management agency said Sunday that 12 fires remained active across the country, while more than 21,800 hectares (53,900 acres) of vegetation have burned so far this year.

High temperatures and strong winds have helped flames spread rapidly in some areas. A fire on the slopes of Ecuador’s Imbabura volcano burned about 300 hectares (740 acres) before being brought under control Sunday after three days of firefighting.

El Nino is a periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can reduce rainfall and raise temperatures in parts of the country, creating conditions that allow wildfires to spread more easily.

Disaster officials have said the period of greatest risk across the region from the developing El Nino is expected between October and April, with wildfires and water shortages among the main concerns. ___

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