Bolivia declares national emergency due to forest fires

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia has declared a national state of emergency due to severe forest fires, the country's defense ministry said on Saturday.

In a press conference, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said the national emergency would enable the country to quickly coordinate international assistance.

“This will enable us to receive more flexible and effective support from friendly countries and through international cooperation,” Novillo said.

Bolivia has experienced the largest number of wildfires since 2010, with at least three million hectares (7.5 million acres) of land burning this year, according to Inpe, the Brazilian space research agency that monitors fires.

South America is in the midst of its fire season, which spans August and September, after an unusually early fire season began in July as a result of a drought that devastated the country.

Bolivia's firefighters are stretched thin and the government has asked for international help. Indigenous volunteers tried to protect land they use to grow crops and raise livestock near the Chiquitano forest north of Concepcion, which stretches into Brazil and Paraguay, but some had to be evacuated.

Brazil has also seen major fires in cities, and the Amazon rainforest has had its worst start in two decades following a record drought.

(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Author: Alexander Villegas, Editor: Franklin Paul)