After the announcement of the end of the forest fires that destroyed large forest areas in northern Morocco, two new fires broke out in at least two municipalities in Morocco. The race against the flames continues in particular in Larache, the scene of the most devastating fires.
A few hours after the announcement of the constituency of the fires having destroyed the forests of several cities of the kingdom, new fires broke out on Sunday evening thanks to the scorching temperatures which fell in the country, reaching up to 47 degrees in some cities.
Sunday around 5:20 p.m., a new fire broke out in the forest of Mount Tamssit in the commune of Foum Anceur (province of Beni Mellal).
Nearly 25 hectares were destroyed that evening, say local authorities who added that the fire was contained by elements of Civil Protection, the Royal Gendarmerie and Waters and Forests deployed on site.
Beni Mellal has been showing extreme temperatures for the past few days, and weather forecasts indicate that it will still be warm for the rest of the week with temperatures of up to 44 degrees.
In addition, the authorities have specified that an investigation has been opened under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor’s office to determine the exact causes of this fire.
For its part, the city of Larache where the fires were the brightest this week, saw a new fire break out this weekend, precisely Saturday afternoon. The fires affected several douars in Mdacher where homes were affected.
Elements of civil protection and local authorities are in a race against time to contain the fires in the coming hours.
A government aid plan
On Friday, the government announced, in application of the High Royal Instructions, an aid plan of 290 million dirhams to mitigate the disastrous consequences caused by the forest fires.
The plan tackles agricultural activity and the replanting of forests, and to provide support to affected local populations. Thus, the program must launch reforestation operations on some 9,330 hectares and rehabilitate the affected fruit trees.
It must help livestock breeders and beekeepers in the affected regions, and rehabilitate homes destroyed by the flames, as well as strengthening the means of prevention and fight against new fires.
In addition, the envelope must also devote the creation of 1,000 additional job opportunities in the region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, dedicated to the people affected and their family members to work in the sites of the Awrach program.
Investigations to determine responsibility
Faced with the return of fire starts in several places where the fires have been completely contained, the local authorities of the Tangier-Tetouan Al Hoceima region suspect criminal intentions or deliberate acts.
Indeed, the elements of Civil Protection, Water and Forests and the Gendarmerie fought day after day to overcome these fires which ravaged nearly 10,000 hectares in Morocco. And it was only after ensuring the complete end of the fires that the control operations were completed this weekend.
It should be noted that despite the circumscription of the fires, some restarted with the wind towards the afternoon, which forced the elements on the spot to be extremely vigilant for several days until complete extinction.
But the local authorities have seen in recent hours, a resumption of suspicious fire starts, extinguished fires, which requires an investigation to determine the causes.
As a reminder, Fouad Assali, Head of the National Center for Forest Climate Risk Management. in forest fire risk management, assured MoroccoLatestNews FR that the cause of the fires was “human”.
It will be a question of knowing if these new fires are due to acts of negligence, or deliberate criminal acts. As a reminder, the first starts of fires had coincided with the celebrations of Aid Al Adha, strong scorching heat as well as hot winds from the Sahara. This week the temperatures have risen and the risks are heightened.
Currently, surveillance and control patrols are deployed in the areas affected by the last forest fires, to ensure that all the last embers have been extinguished and to prevent new outbreaks of fire.
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