Civil Defense personnel swiftly tackled a raging forest fire in Ras al-Matn on Wednesday night. Fueled by strong winds, the blaze threatened to spread uncontrollably before the Civil Defense received the alert.
Facing challenging terrain that hindered ground access, reinforcements from Civil Defense bases from all across the country were brought to the scene. A Lebanese Army Air Force helicopter, supplied with water from a nearby pond, was also deployed to aid in the operation.
Civil Defense members exerted tremendous efforts until they managed to control the fire at 18:30 last night. Subsequent cooling operations lasted until 10:30 pm ensuring the fire was completely extinguished. Civil Defense vehicles were stationed and on stand-by at the site of the fire throughout the night and into the present, ready to intervene if needed.
Earlier, members of the Civil Defense were able to extinguish another fire in a very difficult geographical area within the forests of Ras al-Matn. In a collaborative effort with army units, Civil Defense teams battled the flames from 3:00 pm, on Tuesday, until 7:00 am, on Wednesday and were able to put out the fire.
The inaccessible roads and steep slopes impeded firefighting efforts. However, despite rapid spread and high winds, only material losses were reported.
According to the Global Forest Watch, there have been 17 fire alerts in Lebanon reported so far in 2024 considering high confidence alerts only. This total is high compared to the total for previous years going back to 2012. The most fires recorded in a year was 2021, with 50. Peak fire season starts in early June and lasts around 20 weeks.
