Oh no! 😮 Ecuador, a country in South America, is facing big problems with forest fires and a severe drought (that’s when there’s very little rain). The government has declared a national emergency for 60 days to help fight these issues.
There are 13 active wildfires burning and even more that have been controlled. The fires are really hard to put out because they are in rugged areas that are tough to reach. Firefighters sometimes have to hike for three hours just to get to them! 🥾🏞️
The provinces called Azuay and Loja are the most affected. Imagine an area bigger than 18,000 football fields all burned up—that’s over 10,000 hectares destroyed by the flames! 🏟️🔥
What’s making things worse is the drought. It hasn’t rained much in almost 120 days. This dry weather helps the fires spread faster and makes them harder to stop. 🚫🌧️
Because of the drought, Ecuador is also having trouble with electricity. People are experiencing power outages of up to 14 hours a day! Can you imagine not having lights or TV for that long? 💡📺
The government is using special airplanes to drop water on the fires since the areas are hard to reach by land. Everyone is working hard to protect the forests and the people. Let’s hope for some rain soon! 🌧️🙏
Reference(s):
Ecuador declares national emergency as wildfires, drought intensify
cgtn.com
