Fire consumes more than 5 km of vegetation in Santarém – 11/24/2023 – Environment

A large fire has been raging in the community of Boa Vista do Tapará, in the municipality of Santarém (PA), since the early hours of Monday (20), when the first points of fire were identified.

Local residents tried to control the fires, but this was short-lived. On Tuesday (21) the flames spread, gaining more proportion due to the wind. The result is the destruction of more than 5 km of local vegetation.

According to residents, the fire is spreading towards the PA-255 highway, which connects Santarém to the municipality of Monte Alegre.

There is no Fire Department in the community, but the 4th Fire Brigade, based in Santarém, was called by residents. They fear that the fire will reach homes, even with the strategy of creating firebreaks (shortcuts) to reduce the speed of the flames.

The Costa do Tapará community is also a victim of the fire. On Sunday (19), places where vegetables, bananas and watermelons were grown and produced were affected, damaging the production of 250 farming families in the community. There are still points of fire at the site, but less serious compared to Boa Vista do Tapará

What is happening with Tapará?

The severe drought in the Amazon region is one of the factors causing the fire that affects the Tapará region. With the dryness of lakes and canals, in addition to the absence of rain, the risk of fire is much higher. In the early afternoon of Wednesday (22), a team from the Santarém Municipal Environment Secretariat arrived in the region to investigate the environmental damage caused by the fires.