The fire in Valle Nuevo is under control

SD. The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources announced yesterday that complete control of the fire that had consumed over the past two weeks part of the Juan Bautista Perez Rancier National Park in Valle Nuevo, Constanza.

As of yesterday all of the flames were out, thanks in part to the rains that fell in the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the work by the forest fire fighters and the volunteers from Constanza.

Starting now, according to Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez, a commission of environmental technicians will be n the park, evaluating the damages caused by the fire that covered thousands of tareas of forest, mostly pine forest. "Tomorrow (today) there will be a satellite contract that will provide an exact measurement and take two or three days to make the evaluation of the damages," he said.

Rojas Gomez indicated that in spite of the control that they have on the fire, the brigades continue to be in place, due to the fact that there are still trunks and stumps that are burning and which could start it up again.

The Minister of the Environment spoke at a press conference in which the Minister of Public Works, Gonzalo Castillo; and the chiefs of staff of the Army and Air Force, Ruben Paulino Sem and Ramon Hernandez, also took part.

Gonzalo Castillo told reporters how since last Sunday, Public Works provided 50 pieces of heavy and light equipment in order to open 28 kilometers of trails. Part of this equipment and personnel, which began to leave yesterday, will stay in place to continue improving the access roads in case of a future emergency.

The Minister of the Environment announced that starting with the present experience, he would coordinate with the environmental technicians regarding the possibility of fixing up lateral trails in all of the national parks in order to have access to them in case of necessity.