Fires continue to blaze in Mountain Pine Ridge

It has not been a good year for the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. Once the pride of Belize’s natural attractions, the area first fell victim to a devastating plague of bark beetles which promised to kill the vast majority of its trees. Now, just as timber salvage operations were reaching high gear, fast moving forest fires threaten to destroy whatever economic value remains in the dying trees. This afternoon News Director Stewart Krohn and cameraman Brent Toombs flew over the effected area and have returned with the following report.

Stewart Krohn, Reporting

We could see the haze and smell the smoke even before we pinpointed the location of the fires. There were three different major blazes and a dozen or so smaller ones dotted over the landscape. The one along the southern border of the reserve, along the Macal River, appeared to be the most serious and also the most difficult to contain, due to the steep terrain. The second conflagration was running through a valley, very close to where logging operations were taking place. Forest Department officials report that the fires, ignited by lightning, have been burning since Saturday, fed by the large areas of dead trees killed over the last several months by the Southern Pine Bark Beetle.

With limited personnel and resources, putting the fires out with water is an impossibility. Instead loggers will cut wide firebreaks in front of the fires, utilizing the extensive network of roads constructed decades ago for just such a purpose. The main enemy of firefighters at this time is the combination of high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity that threatens to create an even larger inferno and could eventually burn thousands of acres.

This is not necessarily the disaster it would normally be, since many of the trees are already dead and fire may actually hasten the re-growth of new pine. The problem, is that when the rains do come, the ash will pollute the usually clear streams and the erosion of topsoil will be enormous. Stewart Krohn for News 5.

It is likely that as we get further into the dry season, the severity of fires in the Mountain Pine Ridge will increase. The area’s attractions are still open to visitors, but those who do enter the reserve are reminded to please avoid smoking or the building of campfires. We would like to extend our thanks to the organisation, Lighthawk, for providing the aircraft and skilled pilot that made this report possible.