Loja, Ecuador - September 01, 2024

The fire in Quilanga, in Loja, in southern Ecuador, cannot be controlled. The forest fire that started a week ago has consumed 7,600 hectares of vegetation, has caused the death of animals and has forced the evacuation of residents of the place. This is one of the twelve active forest fires in Ecuador that have not yet been contained by the fire brigades deployed in various provinces.

In order to mitigate the flames that consume the sectors of Valdivia, Santa Rosa, El Limon, El Sauce, La Libertad and Naranjito in Quilanga, the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Command of the Armed Forces activated the Cooperation System between the American Air Forces. For this purpose, the Peruvian Armed Forces have responded with water discharges through the intervention of MI-17 helicopters with a capacity of 3,000 liters each, SPARTAN aircraft with a capacity of 5,000 gallons per discharge. According to the National Secretariat for Risks and Emergencies (SNGRE) in a statement shared with Infobae, so far 36 discharges have been made, with a total of 43,207 gallons of water.