By Santiago Limachi and Daniel Ramos
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia/LA PAZ, (Reuters) – In Bolivia’s lowland region of Santa Cruz, gripped by some of the worst forest fires on record, nurse Raúl Gutiérrez said the acrid sting of smoke almost never goes away and the day has begun to almost resemble night .
The South American country is on track for potentially a record year of fires, exacerbated by drought and land clearing driven by booming livestock and grain production, especially around the wealthy farming city of Santa Cruz.
While the fires have raged for weeks, the smoke over cities such as Santa Cruz and Cochabamba has worsened in recent days, with images of city monuments shrouded in smog. Wednesday’s air pollution figures were among the worst in the world.
“The smoke is persistent and strong. We hope it clears, but there are no signs or chances of rain,” Gutiérrez said, adding that the smoke was worst at dusk, dawn and midnight.
He added that more and more people were experiencing breathing problems, eye problems and headaches due to the smoke, while school classes were suspended.
“The sun practically has an orange tint to it, it looks just like the moon at night,” he said.
Inhaling wildfire smoke pollution can be fatal or lead to long-term respiratory problems. A June study in the journal Science Advances found that this has led to at least 52,000 premature deaths in California alone in a decade.
Satellite images show alarming levels of particulate matter and carbon monoxide in the air. And data from Brazil’s official body INPE shows that Bolivia may be on track for the worst number of active fires on record for the month of September.
‘THE AMAZON IS BURNING’
Diego Rojas, head of the Water and Atmospheric Pollution Department at Santa Cruz City Hall, said people should avoid outdoor activities and use face masks against the smog.
“We have had five consecutive days of dangerous levels for the population,” he said.
The fires have forced schools to close and some commercial flights suspended. President Luis Arce has called for international help and said the government “will not stop” until the fires are extinguished.
Wilber Melgar, from an indigenous community in the Beni region, north of Santa Cruz, which has also been hit hard by the fire, blamed farmers for clearing large areas of land for grazing, sometimes using slash and burn methods.
“Right now, Amazon (NASDAQ:) is on fire,” he said.
Neighboring Brazil is also experiencing a torrid start to the fire season, with blazes engulfing major cities and flaming large swathes of the Amazon rainforest. The wider region has seen its worst fires since 2010.
In Bolivia, Santa Cruz has seen about 8 million hectares of deforestation in the past two decades, said Alcides Vadillo, a researcher at the Tierra Foundation, which has led to more fires.
“(Last year) Santa Cruz was the most polluted city in the world for a week. It will happen again this year and that means direct damage to human health,” Vadillo said.
