Colombia declares disaster, calls for international help due to raging wildfires across the country

The Colombian government declared a disaster situation on Thursday (Jan 25) and asked for international help to combat the raging wildfires across the country, as the president and local officialssaid the situation might worsen in the upcoming days.

‘Situation of disaster and calamity’

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro declared a “situation of disaster and calamity”on Thursday. Hetold reporters that Chile, the United States, Peru and Canada have already responded to the call for help, but did not specify the assistance that will arrive inthe South American country.

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The government has also asked for help from the United Nations and the European Union. “To the extent that we know that in the coming days and weeks crisis events are going to increase, we want to make sure that we have the physical capacity to address and mitigate them," Petro said.

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He also warned that the situation he described as a “climate crisis” will get worse. He added, “We are going towards an increasingly difficult stage.”

The disaster declaration allows the government to reallocate funds to tackle the wildfires.

Situation in Colombia

The local officials raised the number of wildfires from 25 to 31, out of which only nine are under control, reported the Associated Press. So far, they have not ordered mandatory evacuations despite fires burning in the mountains surrounding some residential areas.

Roughly half of the country’s municipalities are on maximum alert due to fire risk, according to the country’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies.

The police are usingplanes authorised to spray chemicals on coca leaf crops to transport and drop water over the fires. Meanwhile, the Colombian army has deployed more than 600 soldiers as well as aircraft and vehicles to mitigate the situation in emergency areas.

Since Monday (Jan 22), the firefighters and armed forces have struggled to contain a series of fires that broke out in the Andean mountains near the capital Bogota.

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The wildfires come after months of hot, dry weather which has been attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon marked by low rainfall and rise in temperatures. Several citiesacross the country,over the past few weeks, have witnessed record-high temperatures.

According to Petro, the drought is expected to intensify in February and most of March. Meanwhile, Colombia’s weather agency IDEAM said there’s a high risk of new fires.

On Thursday morning, at least 138 flights at the capital city’s El Dorado airport were affected as smoke billowed over Bogota. “We estimate that the phenomenon is composed of 70% fog and 30% smoke,” said the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia, in a statement on X.

(With inputs from agencies)