Brasilia National Park is now affected by flames. Brazilian firefighters began extinguishing a fire on Sunday, September 15, in this new hotbed of the wave of fires that is ravaging Brazil due to the worst drought ever recorded in the country.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and First Lady Rosangela da Silva flew over the devastated area of this nature reserve in the Brazilian capital, according to images posted on their social media. “The federal government is working with firefighters to fight the flames”the president wrote.
This is the biggest fire of the year in the city, which has had 145 days without rain and with minimal humidity levels. The flames have so far devastated 1,200 hectares, according to the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), responsible for the administration of Brazil’s national parks. It said that the mobilization against the fire will have to continue all night in the park, which covers an area of 30,000 hectares.
“Fire Pandemic”
The fire occurred on the same day that Supreme Court Justice Flavio Dino authorized the government to exceed spending limits to finance the fight against what he considers a “pandemic of fires”.
“We cannot deny maximum and effective aid to more than half of our territory (…) under the pretext of respecting an accounting standard that is not included in the Constitution”said Dino, who was Lula’s Justice Minister until January. “The goal is to completely untie the hands of the Brazilian State” to protect populations affected by the flames, particularly in the Amazon, he added.
The number of fires in September (55,517) has already surpassed the number recorded for the entire month of September 2023 (46,498), according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Fires in Brazil are spreading more easily due to a historic drought that experts link to climate change and low humidity.
