Fires burning in the Bchamoun area Monday night. (Credit: Lebanese Civil Defense Facebook page)
BEIRUT — A serious wildfire, which broke out Monday evening in the forests of Bchamoun village in Aley, was finally extinguished at the end of the day Tuesday, the state-run National News Agency reported, adding that cooling operations are ongoing on the devastated land to prevent the blaze from reigniting.
Here's what we know:
• According to the NNA, while battling the blaze, a member of the Civil Defense was seriously burned. The injured firefighter was transferred to a hospital in Beirut.
• The fire initially started Monday. The Civil Defense had managed to put it out in the evening, but it broke out again around midnight.
• Civil Defense volunteers supported by Beirut firefighters spent Tuesday trying to control the fire, while an army helicopter provided backup.
• As the fire raged, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin tweeted “we need water tanks to go to Bchamoun, the Sahara district, to provide firefighting vehicles with water.”
• The University of Balamand has created a map that forecasts “fire danger” across Lebanon and indexes different areas. The map marks Baabda, Aley and Jezzine as “extreme danger” areas for fire while areas in the south of Lebanon and up north between Metn and Batroun are marked with “very high danger” and “high danger.”