Hundreds of firefighters are battling to prevent a forest fire from advancing up the slopes of the Atitlán volcano, western Guatemala.

Smoke is seen rising off the side of the volcano as several helicopters are seen flying buckets of water to aid in extinguishing the blaze on March 11.

A spokesperson for Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) said that 203 people are involved in fighting the fire, 119 from the northeast and 84 from the southeast.

SHOTLIST:

1. Various of volcano
2. Various of helicopter fire hydrants
3. Various of fire from the air
4. Various of firefighters work

STORYLINE:


A forest fire is advancing uncontrollably on the slopes of the Atitlán volcano, in western Guatemala, and threatens the biodiversity of the colossus located on one side of the lake of the same name, civil protection reported Tuesday.

"Actions to combat the forest fire continue on the slopes of the Atitlán volcano, between the municipalities of Santiago Atitlán and San Lucas Tolimán," in the department of Sololá, said journalists David de León, spokesman for the Coordinator for Disaster Reduction ( Conred), responsible for civil protection.

The spokesperson said that 203 people were fighting the fire from the northeast (119 people) and southeast (84 people) flanks.

Delegates from Conred are analyzing whether the incident can be fought by air, but it will depend on wind and cloud conditions, De León added.

"It started on Sunday with a small fire, but the wind favored its spread" and now it spreads across the slopes of the colossus, threatening the biodiversity of the place like the quetzal, the national bird of this Central American country.

Meanwhile, Army spokesman Rubén Tellez said a Bell-212 helicopter is ready to help quell the fire in the massif, 3,535 meters above sea level.

On the shore of the lake, in addition to Atitlán, there are also Tolimán and San Pedro, which have not shown eruptive activity for centuries.

In Guatemala, the fire season regularly runs from December to June and each year destroys thousands of hectares of forest.