The Lebanese Civil Defense managed to put out, Wednesday at dawn, a fire that had broken out the prior evening on the outskirts of Ferzol, in the Bekaa, according to information reported by L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in the region.

A Civil Defense official in Ferzol said the fire broke out at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and was extinguished at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. The fire would have decimated 100,000 square meters, or ten hectares, of fruit trees, notably cherry trees, continued the official who believed that it could be of criminal origin, given that it started in the evening when the temperatures were lower than during the day.

Fires are a recurring problem in Lebanon, particularly during the hot, dry summer months. The causes of the latter of these are unclear, but the combination of drought and high temperatures creates favorable conditions for such fires to spread quickly. Current environmental and climatic pressures contribute to their increased frequency and severity.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.