Helping Paraguay Extinguish a National Fire Emergency
(English * Español) October 2007
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Forest fires blazed out of control for weeks in northeastern Paraguay. Above, volunteer firefighters battle the flames in Chore. |
Thousands of brush fires raging out of control sparked a national emergency in
Paraguay in September 2007 as devastation caused by the flames reached critical proportions in this South American nation.
Extended fires displaced tens of thousands of mostly poor families and destroyed nearly two and a half million acres of pastures, commercial and subsistence crops, forests and protected areas. At the height of the emergency, fires were covering as much as 60% of the entire country.
The fires were started by subsistence and indigenous farmers clearing wooded areas and renewing pastures – a common practice in Paraguay and the rest of Latin America. Dry conditions from months without rain, compounded by unusually high temperatures and insufficient response, caused the situation to spiral out of control.
By the time most of the 5,800 fires were contained or extinguished by firefighters with the help of rains that fell toward the end of the month, as many as 200,000 people had been affected and four northeastern departments, Amambay, Concepción, San Pedro and Presidente Hayes, were devastated by the flames.
USAID/OFDA Gets Involved
Paraguay is the only country in Latin America without a national program to control forest fires. Even though it has a corps trained and equipped for structural fires, it has no government agency in charge of forest fire prevention, control and recovery. Instead, the country relies on a nationwide network of volunteer firefighters, many of whom have been guided and trained in recent years by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
As the fires raged on in early September, authorities struggled to respond to an escalating emergency. Lack of proper equipment to combat forest fires was one of the main problems facing local volunteer firefighters and military personnel dispatched to the area. Another challenge was the difficult access to affected lands, including some fires in extremely inaccessible places, and considerable distance between them.
Seeing the situation turn critical, USAID/ Paraguay requested assistance from USAID/ OFDA on September 7. Forest fire expert María Luisa Alfaro was dispatched from the Latin America and Caribbean regional office in San Jose, Costa Rica, to Paraguay on September 12, two days before a national disaster was declared.
Alfaro, who has worked with Paraguay’s volunteer firefighter brigades since 2001 as part of USAID/OFDA’s Training and Technical Assistance Program run by the International Resources Group (IRG), was already familiar with most of the affected areas. This enabled her to conduct an on-the-ground rapid assessment of the situation followed by an aerial reconnaissance of some of the most affected areas. She recommended the Government of Paraguay issue a national
disaster declaration immediately and respond to the situation using every resource available.
At that point, many of the nation’s volunteer firefighters, who work for the government or private enterprises, had not been dispatched to fight fires in critical areas. The day Alfaro arrived, she and U.S. Ambassador James C. Cason asked the government of Paraguay to request that all volunteer firefighters be given time off work to attend to the growing emergency situation.
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Volunteers put their USAID/OFDA training to work in San Roque. |
“Luisa provided a focus on how to move forward,” said USAID/OFDA Senior Regional Advisor Tim Callaghan, adding that Alfaro was able to combine her knowledge of forest fires, familiarity with the affected terrain and established relationships with officials and volunteer firefighter leaders to provide solid technical advice that was heeded by top decision-makers in Paraguay.
USAID/Paraguay Mission Director John A. Beed described U.S. assistance as a success.
“U.S. assistance was visible and direct,” Beed wrote in a September 20 update. “USAID/ OFDA’s regional fire expert María Luisa Alfaro, mobilized early on to Paraguay, was the linchpin in structuring U.S. Government and other donor responses and in better informing the Government of Paraguay about the emergency. Over the past several years, USAID/OFDA trained and certified 600 fire-fighters, who were instrumental in stopping the fire’s advance from national parks and protected areas as well as through their cross-training, which helped adjoining communities protect agriculturally important areas.”
This value-added, integral approach to dealing with disaster – a dual focus on advance preparation through education and training and rapid response to disaster using an already established network of contacts – represents USAID/OFDA’s long-term vision for assistance in this region.
The working relationships Alfaro had already established with major players in Paraguay helped expedite the response work conducted under stressful conditions. She was able to put into action a plan to better integrate teams of firefighters, military and non-governmental groups.
“Among the advantages I had during the response to this emergency was that I knew many of those in charge, as well as those out in the field actually fighting the fires,” Alfaro explained.
“Additionally, during the course of coordinating our training and capacity building efforts in Paraguay, I had already visited the zones under emergency declaration. My knowledge from the field – what kind of wood was burning, what the climatic conditions were like, for example – allowed me to make better decisions,” she added.
Tools to Fight the Fire
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Firefighters discuss their strategy at the Command Center set up in Pindoty. |
Recognizing things were floundering and that responding to the widespread burning was beyond its ability, the Government of Paraguay declared a national emergency on September 14 and requested international help.
In response, the United States provided $500,000 in assistance, through USAID/ OFDA, USAID/Paraguay and the Department of Defense, not including earlier preparation nor advisory efforts – both central to battling the blazes.
Some of the funds were channeled through the Paraguay Firefighters Corps, the Red Cross and a local environmental foundation working to protect national parks.
Additionally, thanks to a previously established mechanism of cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, USAID/OFDA was able to provide timely delivery of fire-fighting equipment, protective gear and tools to the volunteer brigades.
The equipment arrived in Paraguay without a hitch on September 23 thanks to cooperation between the U.S. Embassy, Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Relations and Customs. It was then distributed to 15 key fire brigades, minimizing potential injuries and loss of life while maximizing the effectiveness of the on-site work teams.
Among the equipment and tools donated are various types of firefighting water pumps, fire hoses, nozzles, shovels, rakes, chainsaws, axes and other cutting tools, weather observation kits, walkie-talkies, portable radios, helmets, gloves, firefighter shirts and pants, safety goggles and masks.
Rising from the Ashes
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Lack of proper equipment was one of the challenges facing firefighters. Above, military officials assist efforts in Pindoty. |
Now that most of the fires have subsided, attention has turned to the task of recovering from the emergency, ensuring long-term stability in the affected areas and preventing future disasters of this magnitude.
The true extent of the economic losses will not be known for months as the
government tries to evaluate widespread damage to infrastructure, including lumber mills and fences in extensive rural agricultural areas, and the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of corn, soybean, pineapple and other commercial crops.
An initial assessment reveals that aside from devastating millions of acres of forests, pastures and crops, the fires destroyed more than 200 houses, 2,000 head of cattle and affected more than 41,000 families. Thousands of inhabitants lost subsistence crops and will need at least three months worth of food, water, seeds for fast-growing crops and other aid to survive.
Because of the severe impact of the fires on Paraguay’s national economy, Alfaro remains hopeful the country’s leaders will take action to create and institutionalize a national plan to combat forest fires. USAID/OFDA has offered technical assistance to Paraguay to develop such a plan, which should include fostering greater public awareness of the risk of starting fires, and ensuring brigades are well trained and equipped to respond to forest fires promptly and efficiently, thus minimizing the risk of another national fire disaster.
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