Firefighters, soldiers, and volunteers continue on Saturday to extinguish the latest forest fires ravaging northern Algeria, fires that have killed some 90 people since Monday, including 33 soldiers, according to reports from local authorities.
According to Algerian leaders, these fires are mostly of criminal origin and arsonists have been arrested.
Experts and witnesses nevertheless point to the lack of anticipation and prevention of the public authorities in the face of a recurring phenomenon every year in Algeria.
In addition, these forest fires are currently intensified by extreme heat.
The Defense Ministry organized two ceremonies on Saturday to honor the 33 soldiers who perished fighting the flames, one at the Algiers military hospital, in the presence of the Chief of Staff, Saïd Chenegriha, and the other in Constantine (northeast).
These heroes sacrificed their souls for the homeland and to save their fellow citizens from the arson attacks in different regions of our country, said General Boualem Madi, Director of Defense Communication during a funeral oration, at the third and final day of national mourning.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune visited on Saturday the wounded, civilians and soldiers hospitalized in Algiers, promising them to implement all the necessary means for their care.
In the absence of a new official global report, the reports reported by local authorities, Civil Protection, and the Ministry of Defense show a total of some 90 deaths since Monday.
Civil Protection reported 42 ongoing fires in 15 wilayas [prefectures], including 14 in Tizi Ouzou and 7 in Béjaïa, in Kabylia, the most affected region. Nine fires are under control in four wilayas, the same source said in a tweet.
A hundred fires had been identified Thursday across the country.
International reinforcements
The helicopters of the Air Group of Civil Protection and the Army carried out 235 water bombardment operations, not to mention 172 operations by water bombers in Tizi-Ouzou, Béjaïa, and Jijel, Civil Protection said.
Two French water bombers – made available by Paris through the European Union (EU) – as well as a liaison aircraft, intervened massively Thursday and Friday in Kabylia.
A Spanish water bomber arrived on Saturday and a second is expected in the next few hours, according to the official APS agency. A third device should be deployed soon from Switzerland, according to Mr. Tebboune.
A total of 43 homes have been extinguished in 20 prefectures in the past 24 hours. Nearly 7,500 Civil Protection agents are deployed with 490 fire fighting vans and three helicopters.
Five heavy MI-26 helicopters, of Russian origin, were also mobilized by the army. According to the specialized site Mena Defense, the Algerian army intends to buy eight Russian water bombers Beriev Be-200. Three of them were due to arrive in Algiers on Saturday, according to local media.
Russia has offered to make four water bomber planes available to Algeria, according to APS, which explains that due to the lack of authorization to fly over Greece and Cyprus, their arrival was delayed. They should reach the site in the next few hours.
Faced with the tragedy, the gestures of solidarity of civil society are manifested on the ground and international aid is organized.
We get help from everywhere. I saw trucks and vans from all over Algeria, enthuses a young volunteer, quoted by the French-speaking daily Liberté.
Extreme temperatures
Weather services predict temperatures of up to 48 degrees in a country already suffering from water stress.
The largest state in Africa, Algeria has only 4.1 million hectares of forest, with a meager reforestation rate of 1.76%. Every year, the north of the country is affected by forest fires. In 2020, nearly 44,000 hectares of coppice went up in smoke.
The fires that are increasing on the globe are associated with various phenomena anticipated by scientists due to global warming.
