A team of 500 men is fighting the largest forest fire in five years, up near Duarte Peak, the highest in the Caribbean. Environment Minister Max Puig told reporters that the fire was so fierce that the smoke impeded the work of three Air Force helicopters. Local residents, forestry experts, firemen and Civil Defense workers are trying to stem the blaze, whose cause is, at this moment unknown. The fire has been going for ten days now. The Air Force was able to send 6,000 MREs to the men fighting the blaze. Civil Defense teams from Santiago, Moca, Salcedo, Mao and La Vega have joined Forestry Department teams in the efforts to keep hundreds of families in the area safe. The fire is located in the valleys of Tetero and Lilis in the J. Armando Bermudez National Park. The mountain, tallest in the Caribbean, was closed off to hiking expeditions. The fire will affect the watersheds of both the Yaque rivers, North and South as well as many smaller streams.