One-week fires of Hama countryside cause losses estimated at thousands of acres

Hama , SANA – The fires that erupted in the forests and woodlands of Massyaf and Al-Ghab regions in the western countryside of Hama province have made a record whether in terms of their numbers or in the vast areas of agricultural and forest resource that devoured them despite all the firefighting teams’ attempts to control them and limit their losses due to  the geography ruggedness of the region which  was affected by the fire and the intensity and fluctuation of winds and  high temperature of the weather.

Firefighting staffs, in cooperation with locals and Syrian Arab Army Personnel’s and the Internal Security Forces, faced in Hama and several other provinces th fires and they were able to control them with exceptional efforts in dealing with the situation despite the limited possibilities.

A series of extended fires began with a huge fire that broke out in hundreds of hectares of long-lived forests in Ain al-Krum, according to a statement by Hassan Fares, director of forestry at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, which were extinguished Successfully after the concerted efforts of firefighting crews over the two days of August and the first of September.

The fire of Ain al-Krum was followed by another fire which broke out in the forests of Bireh Al-Jarad in Massyaf countryside and the losses were estimated at 2000 dunums.

On the fifth of the same month, another fire broke out in the villages of Al-Freekeh, Salimo, jurin and Nubul Al-Khatib, which was considered by the locals as  the biggest fire that the region had never witnessed before, since ten years ago, the citizens  of the village of Freekeh were threatened with danger, before the firefighting teams were able to extinguish the fire and contain it after strenuous efforts that lasted for three days, while Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform estimated the area of the  forests  that was destroyed by the fire about 2000 acres.

During the operations to put out the fire of Frikeh, a huge fire broke out in Ain Halak town and Ain Shams, where the affected forest area was estimated according to the locals by 3000 acres, and the operations to extinguish it continued for more than two days,currently, 90% of this fire has been controlled.

Mayor of Hama province Dr. Mohamad Hazouri said in a phone call with Syrian channel on Wednesday that losses of forests and woodlands within a fire series which affected the region more than a week by 8000 acres, including 1000 acres of private properties and what remains are forest lands, public properties  .

Manar Salameh/Bushra Dabin/Mazen Eyon

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