Fire brigades from the Ministry of the Environment from Constanza, La Vega, San Juan de la Maguana and other areas were sent to the Sierra de Bahoruco in the southwest on Sunday, 14 April 2019, to help others in the area to extinguish the forest fire that has reduced thousands of pine trees to ashes. As reported, most of the blaze had been put out by Monday, 15 April.
According to the Ministry of Environment vice minister Manuel Serrano, the areas most affected are in El Aceitillar, near the Hoyo de Pelempito, inside the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Environment says that the tourist lookout (mirador) at Pelempito and its environs were not affected and continue open to visitors during the Easter Week holiday.
Meanwhile, authorities speculate on the reasons for the intense fire in the national park area. It is known there were people in the area who hunted and killed wild pigs, although according to an official from the National Environmental Protection Service (SENPA), they are not ruling out that the fire was started deliberately. The cause of the blaze continues to be under investigation.
The smoke has covered almost all of the Sierra de Bahoruco, but by Monday, 15 April 2019, had thought to be almost all under control.
Read more in Spanish:
Al Momento
Listin Diario
El Nacional
Z101
16 April 2019