A fire index map documenting potential danger zones for risks of fires across Lebanon. (Courtesy of the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon)
BEIRUT — The National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon (CNRS) warned Tuesday of heightened fire danger, particularly over the next three days, as demonstrated on the fire index maps the council prepared.
Here’s what we know:
• According to CNRS, the fire index showed an increased fire risk for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, urging residents to be alert and refrain from starting fires near dry vegetation.
• Many regions in Lebanon are wildfire-prone, affected by the summer’s high temperatures and dry conditions. Fires have ravaged villages and ecosystems in their path in previous years. Civil Defense teams and volunteer groups have been responding to extinguish fires, but suffer from a chronic lack of equipment as the country struggles from an economic collapse.
• Meanwhile, the fire-damaged areas have since been plagued by illegal tree cutting. People driving cars, trucks and tractors reportedly flocked to the scene of a fire that had raged Thursday in the Akkar governorate town of Qobayat, in order to collect the burnt wood, the head of the Environment Council in Qobayat Antoine Daher said in a statement.
