The fires continued raging Monday in the Brazilian Amazon, despite the deployment of air bombers, firefighters and soldiers to fight against the huge fires. The city of Porto Velho, in the state of Rondônia (north-west), where two Hercules C-130 aircraft dump since tens of thousands of liters of water to fight against the flames, remained covered with large clouds of fumes. In addition to these two air force aircraft, dozens of firefighters were dispatched Sunday to fight against the progression of fires. Brazil has also accepted help from Israel, which has offered to send a plane.
The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Sergio Moro, has also given the green light to the deployment of police to deal with the illegal destruction of forests in the Amazon. Between Saturday and Sunday, 1,133 new fires were identified by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The worst fires in years
So far, seven states, including Rondônia, have appealed to the army. Some 43,000 Amazon-based troops are available to fight fires, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva said.
But the number of soldiers sent to the front of the fires and their modes of action remained for the time unclear.
Large areas of the Amazon region have been devastated by the worst fires in years. According to the latest official figures, 80,626 fires were recorded in Brazil this year, the highest since 2013, of which more than half in the Amazon. Accelerated deforestation under the government of Jair Bolsonaro which encourages the cultivation and rearing of bovine animals Amazon, correlated with the dry season, explains the magnitude of the fires. The Amazon, 60% of which is in Brazil, also extends to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.