Unfortunately, the number of wildfires in Lebanon increases every year, and so far this season, the Lebanese civil defense has been putting off fires nearly every day.
Yesterday, one of the biggest wildfires ravaged through a forest in Jeita, one of the most renowned touristy places in Lebanon.
“greenarea.info” conducted a phone call interview with the Lebanese civil defense, who informed us that “the firefighters are still extinguishing the fire,” adding that “they cannot provide us with more information about the destroyed forest areas, until the fire is completely extinguished, and until an expert detects the place where the fire took place.”
Upon asking them about how much time the Jeita fire took so far to extinguish, they replied: “We’ve been extinguishing the huge wildfire since 24 hours, and we are not done yet.”
The Lebanese civil defense has been warning about the increase of forest fires in the upcoming day, through its twitter account:
الدفاع المدني ينبه من حرائق الغابات في الايام القادمةhttps://t.co/lIQEZI3TjF pic.twitter.com/deO0IGyI7Y
— الدفاع المدني (@CivilDefenseLB) June 12, 2016
Yesterday, the National News agency in Lebanon mentioned that ” A wildfire erupted in a dense bush area in Jeita, endangering on its path the touristic cable car that runs through the locale.”
It added that “Jeita Grotto authorities halted cable car tours and requested its patrons to wait at the entrance”.
Civil Defense units and ISF rushed to the scene in attempts to contain the flames, as helicopter aid was requested.
ISF asked citizens to avoid taking the side roads leading to the Grotto.
Khattar said in a phone call to “NNA” that 15 fire trucks and 2 army helicopters are working to contain the fire.
Here are some tips you can follow to prevent forest fires:
- Extinguish cigarettes before disposing of them
- Avoid backyard burning in windy conditions
- Keep a shovel, water, and fire retardant nearby to keep fires in check
- Remove all flammables from yard when burning
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