United Nations Team Assesses How Big Amazon Fires Were
3/31/98
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Title: United Nations Team Assesses How Big Amazon Fires Were
Source: CNN
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 3/31/98
BRASILIA, Brazil (CNN) -- A U.N. team of disaster experts was traveling Tuesday
to
Brazil's northern state of Roraima, where fires set by subsistence farmers have
swept out
of control and scorched thousands of square kilometers (acres) of Amazon
jungle.
Brief rain showers on Monday had increased humidity levels and slowed the flames
and
reduced the smoke in the area near Venezuela.
The experts, as well as government observers, were trying to gauge how far the
fires had
penetrated the rain forest, which is normally too humid to burn but which has
been hit
by months of drought.
"There are countries willing to help," said U.N. team leader Carlos Montessori
Perrier.
"There are military and civilian resources available."
CNN's Ronnie Lovler on fighting the fires
There are about 1,500 firefighters -- some of them from Argentina and Venezuela
-- and
several water-carrying helicopters aiding the efforts.
Satellite images released Monday by the Brazilian government showed a line of
fire about
140 miles (220 km) long, pushing into what officials said were transition areas
between
savannahs and rain forest. About 60,000 square miles (156,000 square kilometers)
have
been scorched.
The drought -- blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon and strong winds -- has
made the
fires the worst on record, officials say.
"We have no record of a fire on this scale in the Amazon. This fire marks a
watershed for
the region and we must reflect upon that," said Fernando Catao, who heads a
Brazilian
task force set up last week to handle offers of international aid.
The fires have been burning for more than two months, and have destroyed homes
in
indigenous communities such as those of the stone-age tribe of the Yanomami.
The Yanomami tribe was providing "crucial aid" in the fire-fighting efforts,"
said fire
department spokesman Antonio Olivera in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.