Wave of fires in São Paulo causes two deaths and puts 34 cities on high alert

São Paulo, Aug 24 (EFE).- A wave of forest fires in the Brazilian state of São Paulo has put 34 cities on “high alert” and caused two deaths so far, according to Civil Defense, which on Saturday asked for public cooperation to prevent new outbreaks.

The São Paulo government has created a crisis unit to coordinate actions between different public bodies in order to extinguish the “intense” fires that covered the sky of the capital of São Paulo with smoke on Friday.

According to Civil Defense, “34 cities are on high alert” and 24 of them “face active fire outbreaks,” which have forced the total or partial closure of several roads in the region.

Two factory workers in the municipality of Urupês died on Friday while fighting the flames, the São Paulo government said.

Both were travelling in a truck, but in a grassy area they lost control of it and were incinerated due to a fuel leak that engulfed the vehicle in flames.

Low humidity and high temperatures in recent days in São Paulo, Brazil’s richest and most populous state with some 45 million inhabitants, have aggravated the situation, according to regional Civil Defense spokesman Maxwell Souza.

Some 7,300 professionals and volunteers are taking part in the fire-fighting efforts, in a large-scale operation supported by the Armed Forces.

“We need to be extremely cautious. We must make a joint effort to prevent the flames from spreading,” said the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, who flew over the worst-affected areas on Saturday.

This Saturday, the Civil Defense warned of a “high risk of fires” in the regions of Araçatuba, Ibitinga, São Carlos, Barretos, Ribeirão Preto and Franca.

However, São Paulo authorities hope that the drop in temperatures and the rains expected this weekend in some parts of the state will help improve the situation.

“Be careful and do not light a fire, it is a crime! Lack of control can cause irreparable damage,” the Civil Defense warned the population on its social networks.

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