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Peru calls on farmers to halt burns amid fatal fire season

Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen on Monday gotten in touch with farming neighborhoods to stop burning meadows in Andean and Amazonian locations that have triggered fatal wildfires, eliminating a minimum of 15 individuals this season.

Forest fires are regular in Peru between August and November, mainly due to the burning of dry grasslands to expand farming frontiers and sometimes by land traffickers, according to information from the Ministry of the Environment.

Please, I ask you to stop burning lawn. All the fires that are happening nationwide have actually been started by people, the prime minister informed reporters.

Adrianzen said 222 fire emergencies, of which 80% had actually been controlled, were reported as of Sunday according to the civil defense company. He included the fires might flare once again due to the dry season, more powerful winds and hard access.

The biggest fires have actually been recorded in the regions of Cuzco, San Martin, Amazonas, Ucayali, Madre de Dios and Ancash, according to authorities.

Health Minister Cesar Vasquez informed reporters that 15 people have actually died and 134 others have been hurt so far.

A number of authorities have called for greater action from the federal government to put out the fires. Firemens and volunteers are attempting to put out fires in hard-to-reach locations with water and by hitting the ground with branches to stop it from spreading.

The governor of Ucayali, Manuel Gambini, called for the existence of military airplane to help firemens and volunteers because the rugged location makes it difficult to snuff out the fires that are damaging palm and cocoa crops.

(source: Reuters)