In a strange incident, a massive fire broke out last night in one of the forests located in the Tetouan province, known for its dense forest cover; this raised a wave of questions about the reasons that led to the fire igniting in the middle of winter in a region known for dropping temperatures at this stage of the year.
Activists shared, through their pages on social media, video clips and photos showing flames rising in the "Mouktala" forest, which belongs to the Azla Zaitouna command in the Tetouan province, where the speed of the wind contributed to the spread of the fire significantly.
Said Benjira, the Regional Director of Water and Forests and Desertification Control in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, confirmed that rescue teams intervened to extinguish the fire that broke out last night until they managed to control it around five o'clock this Monday morning.
Benjira explained, in a statement to the electronic newspaper Hespress, that "interveners from Water and Forests, Civil Protection, the Royal Gendarmerie, and local authorities were mobilized, and everyone moved, and thank God, around five in the morning the fire was brought under control."
The regional official for Water and Forests and Desertification Control noted that the wind force was strong; which led to the expansion and spread of the fire, highlighting that the flames consumed about 100 hectares of the mentioned forest.
The same official pointed to the climatic conditions that were characterized by recording significant rainfall coinciding with the fire, which helped the intervention teams to extinguish the fire, suggesting that if it were not for the rainfall, things would have worsened more and the fire would have included other areas.
Benjira appeared, in his talk with Hespress, surprised like the rest of the citizens by the timing of the sudden fire, when he said: "The problem is that the season is cold and the fire ignited," stressing at the same time that the search process is ongoing by the Royal Gendarmerie and the competent authorities to investigate the "circumstances and details of the fire," which observers described as "unexpected."
The post Sudden Tetouan fire consumes 100 hectares appeared first on Hespress - Hespress Moroccan electronic newspaper.
