BEIRUT — Rescue teams scrambled to douse a massive
blaze in Lebanon’s largest pine forest on Wednesday that authorities said could
be deliberate, as the country braced for another summer of fires.
اضافة اعلان
The fire in the
northern Dinniyeh region broke out on Tuesday night, prompting the army and
volunteer firefighters to intervene to try to salvage one of the
Middle East’s
lushest pine forests. The army on Wednesday said it dispatched helicopters but
it was still struggling to contain the fire, hours after it started.
“Unfortunately, the forest fire season starts at the
Batramaz forest in Dinniyeh,” said Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, who
visited the area on Wednesday. “It is possible that the fire was sparked
deliberately,” he said, urging authorities to investigate.
Lebanon is grappling with its worst-ever financial
crisis and lacks the tools and capabilities to combat catastrophic wildfires
that have increased in recent years, partly because of rising temperatures due
to climate change. Lebanon’s corruption-ridden state has consistently needed
foreign assistance for disaster response.
The government’s shortcomings have angered
environmental activists, who warn of the damage being done to the country’s
ever-shrinking natural treasures. “May God forgive those who did not appoint
forest guards, who left forest areas without firefighting equipment, and who
neglected the development and support of civil defense,” environmental activist
Paul Abi Rached wrote on social media.
Last July, it took
Lebanon days to extinguish
wildfires that ravaged pine forests in the north, left a 15-year-old volunteer
firefighter dead and forced many people from their homes.
In 2019, the government’s failure to contain
devastating wildfires was one of the triggers of an unprecedented, nationwide
protest movement against perceived official incompetence and corruption.
Scientists have warned that extreme weather and fierce fires will become
increasingly common due to man-made global warming.
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