Wildfires Destroy Cadenas Outpost; Displace Several Families in Toledo  

 We begin tonight with the significant losses that the recent wildfires have caused to several Maya farmers in southern Belize. In San Pedro Columbia, around one hundred farmers have lost their entire farms, taking away from them the only means of survival they depended on. The fires spread to other Maya communities, doing much of the same damage to farms and rainforest in those villages. Last week, there were wildfires that were being closely monitored in Crique Jute, Mafredi and San Antonio. Another that threatened the Cadenas outpost near the Sarstoon got so grim by Friday, that the smoke in the area made it difficult for the soldiers posted at the outpost to see and breathe. Despite all efforts to save the facility, it was consumed by the flames over the weekend. While that was happening in those areas, Ministry of Disaster Risk Management, NEMO, the B.D.F., the Ya’axché Conservation Trust and Toledo Institute for Development and Environment teams were out fighting fires in other communities in Toledo. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

The fires that swept through several communities in the Toledo District have left significant losses in their wake. The fires became a threat to the communities from as early as last weekend when they threatened farms in several Maya villages, starting from San Pedro, Columbia. By the end of the week, the Cadenas Outpost near Graham Creek had also been consumed by the fires. Deputy Commander of the Belize Defence Force, Colonel Anthony Velasquez said the soldiers had to abandon the post.

 

Via phone: Col. Anthony Velasquez, Deputy Commander, Belize Defence Force

“We sent air reconnaissance in the area, and about Thursday, the intense smoke forced us to evacuate our soldiers from the, from Cadenas. So they took all they could with them, all movable equipment, and they evacuated to the Sarstoon F.O.B.  However, they did daily patrols back to the Sarstoon area and attempted to remove other items as well. On Saturday, they returned and everything was in order, and Sunday, when they returned again the outpost was burned because of the intense wildfires.”

 

Chairman of San Pedro, Columbia, Basilicas Choco told us today that the teams were able to suppress the fires over the weekend, but that many of the farmers had been affected by the flames.

 

Basilicas Choco, Chairman, San Pedro Columbia Village, Toledo

“I would say it’s more than more than 70 percent of our farmers have been affected. I don’t think we have any severe homes that are burnt. It’s just like camps that farmers usually make on their farms that store corns, other things that they have stored here, those are the buildings that are burnt down. Cacao is one of the major crops that has been destroyed, I would say about – the majority – more than 50 farmers that have cacao fields. We have farmers losing their corn, as they said. We have farmers losing other fruit trees, coconut trees, other fruit trees that they have, especially the farmers that are   that live on their farm.

 

 

TIDE’s Terrestrial Manager, Mario Muschamp, said the NGO played a huge part in saving other villages from coming under threat.

 

Mario Muschamp, Terrestrial Manager, TIDE

“We got a call actually from the folks at Ya’axché Conservation Trust last week Tuesday afternoon, pertaining to a fire that was along the highway next to the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve Field Station. They felt that the station was threatened by this fire. And so we were called to assist them with suppressing that fire. When we got there most of the rangers from had Ya’axché had already controlled that fire. We received a call from rangers that were on patrol into the Golden Stream Corridor Reserve on the boundary line with the Columbia River Forest Reserve. They were saying that there was a fire back in there, and based on information we got from them, that fire was in there already for a couple of days. What we found was happening is there were these rocks were actually rolling down the hills, huge boulders, so it was a little scary for us, but we were able to put fire breaks around those hills to ensure that fire, those fires didn’t come down those hills and then spread off into the forest.”

 

NEMO spearheaded the effort to suppress the fires, evacuate villagers and has already begun assessments of the losses. Area Representative for Toledo West, Oscar Requena, toured the affected areas along with Minister of Disaster Risk Management, Andre Perez. The images shared from that tour show extensive damage to the terrain and parched trees where lush greenery once existed. NEMO Coordinator, Daniel Mendez told News Five that as soon as they got the information of how grave the situation was, they mobilized the District Emergency Management Organization.

 

 

 

Daniel Mendez, Coordinator, NEMO

“We were able to get aerial reconnaissance to really understand the magnitude of the fires. And then we started to provide support, immediate support to the communities that were being affected. There was an on the ground reconnaissance by Honorable Andre Paris, who was the Minister of Blue Economy and Disaster Reduction alongside the ever representative Honorable Oscar Requena. And based on that, it was determined that the impact was very severe, and it will require a significant amount in terms of the recovery of these areas.”

 

Classes in the affected villages were suspended until further notice, as assessment teams continue to monitor the smoke and visibility in those areas. Part of the operation, Mendez said involved a few search and rescue missions and placing a shelter in Crique Jute Village. While the BDF put the loss of the facility to around eighty thousand dollars and say that it will take a few weeks to replace the outpost in that southernmost area of Belize, Col. Velasquez assures that Belize’s sovereignty will not be compromised by this loss.

 

 

 

Via phone: Col. Anthony Velasquez

“Because it has burned doesn’t mean that we will be absent from the area. Our soldiers will remain in the area and we’ll do constant patrols as well from the Sarasota F.O.B to the area until repairs has been done.”

 

Muschamp warns that the hot weather conditions are a recipe for fire disasters and discourages people entering the forests from lighting fires.

 

Mario Muschamp

“We have been trying to tell people that during this time of the year, do not use fire because it’s harder to control, and there’s a high chance that you’ll escape. And then when you escape, you don’t know where it’s going to go, what damage it will cause. I think it’s high time now that as a country we start to promote the wise use of fires and address the laws that deals with fire. We currently have a National Wildland Fire Management Policy and Strategy sitting on a shelf that had it been put to use, we could have alleviated a lot of these problems that we’re seeing.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.