Published on 09/25/2024 4:36 p.m. Updated on 09/25/2024 4:54 p.m.
Duration of the video: 1 min Fires in Ecuador: flames threaten Quito Fires in Ecuador: flames threaten Quito (France 2)
Terrible fires have surrounded the city of Quito, Ecuador, since Tuesday September 24. The flames are already ravaging certain neighborhoods in the north of the capital.
The smoke plunged part of Quito (Ecuador) into darkness. Located at an altitude of 2,850 meters, the capital has been facing five simultaneous fires since Tuesday September 24. In the northeast district, the fire is getting closer to the buildings. The residents themselves, with simple buckets of water, tried all night to contain the blaze.
Several hundred people have already had to evacuate. “We already have confirmation that only a few houses were damaged,” said the mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz. Roads are cut, and ash falls continuously, causing poor air quality. As a precautionary measure, all schools in the city have closed.
Subject to its worst drought in 60 years, Ecuador saw more than 3,300 fires break out in 2024. A seventh of its land area burned. A more frequent and intense phenomenon due to global warming caused by human activities.
Since the 19th century, the average temperature of the Earth warmed by 1.1°C . Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, which consume fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, sobriety, reduced meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions on the climate crisis.