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Ongoing forest fires south of Bogota forced local authorities to declare an emergency as the flames threaten to destroy neighborhoods in the southeast of the capital.
The Cundinamarca department that surrounds Bogota’s Federal Dictrict declared an orange alert in 37 of its municipalities because of the fires.
The fires are close to the Colombian capital, and local firemen are working 24/7 to control the flames on hills to the south east of the city. The firemen’s work is complicated by strong winds that help spread the flames.
No citizens have yet been evacuated.
Colombian national authorities have warned for months that drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon has increased the risk of forest fires in many parts of the country.
