Source: Focus News
Brasilia. Brazilian firefighters are scrambling to extinguish rampant forest fires across the country as at least 1,391 fire outbreaks were reported from Thursday midnight to Friday noon, Xinhua informed.A total of 22,730 fire out breaks have been reported so far this month, according to latest statistics provided by National Institute of Space Research (INPE) on Friday.
INPE recorded 41,636 fire outbreaks year to date, a 135-percent increase year on year.
About 10,000 people are involved in the work of fire-fighting, especially in the areas of environmental protection. The Federal Police, the Army and the National Security Force are also supporting the work to combat fire.
Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said the government has invested about 17 million U.S. dollars to prevent forest fires, but the structure to combat fire may be insufficient due to weather and the large number of illegal fires started mainly by farmers.
This week, Brazilian Environmental Institute gave fines amounting to more than two million dollars for illegal burning in Brazil's North Region where the Amazon rainforest is located.
In the region's Rondonia State, one person was arrested in flagrante and fined 1.9 million dollars on Thursday for setting fire on a pasture, without permission.
In Para, another state in the region, seven farmers were also fined for causing fires in 724.91 hectares of pasture and forest regeneration.