Lima (GNP): Wildfires driven by El Niño have killed 12 people in Peru and left hundreds without homes since June, authorities said on Wednesday.
The National Emergency Operations Centre (COEN) reported that most of the dead were farmers. They died of injuries suffered while trying to fight the flames.
Between June and October, 457 forest fires were recorded across the country. The worst-affected region was Cusco, where one fire broke out close to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu earlier this month.
The damage has been heavy for rural communities. The fires have consumed more than 1,000 hectares of farmland and destroyed around 100 homes. A further 12,000 hectares of natural vegetation have also been lost.
The emergency is not over yet. On Wednesday, COEN said seven fires were still burning in the Andes and the Peruvian Amazon.
Biologist Daniel Valle of the Scientific University of the South in Lima explained why the flames spread so fast. He said high temperatures and dry conditions caused by El Niño created the ideal setting for them.
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Human activity often provides the spark. Many of the fires are started by farmers who burn brush to clear land for crops, and the dry conditions allow those fires to spread quickly.
El Niño is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It changes winds, pressure and rainfall patterns around the world.
This year’s “Super” El Niño is set to peak in December. It is already causing damage elsewhere, including in Central America, where animals are dying from drought.
Valle said, “We have a huge mass of hot, dry air over the whole of Peru.”
