A huge wildfire that has been raging across Hour al-Azim wetland in the southwest of the country for around a week has spewed massive clouds of smoke toward several cities in Khuzestan Province causing breathing difficulties for their residents.
Reportedly, the blaze is chiefly burning in the Iraqi part of the wetland and any occasional inrush through canebrakes of Khuzestan has been immediately extinguished by Iranian forces.
However, the smoke has crossed the border into the city of Hoveyzeh and drifted over 115 kilometers to reach Mahshahr affecting Susangerd, Bostan and Ahvaz on its way.
According to Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, head of the provincial office of the Department of Environment, officials are in talks with the Iraqi embassy staff in Tehran and the consulate in Ahvaz to help contain the fire.
"We have proposed to send our firefighting choppers to help put out the fire if Iraq is facing a lack of equipment or if the affected areas are hard to reach," he told Mehr News Agency.
Satellite images show that around 10,000 hectares of the wetland within Iraq's borders have burned in the blaze.
Around 300 hectares of the Iranian part of Hour al-Azim have also been burned in occasional incidents, according to Nazem Sobouti, governor of Hoveyzeh.
"The center of the fire is in Iraq and each time it spreads toward Iran, it is brought under control in less than three hours," he said.
Experts have cited the intense sunlight over the dried wetland as the cause of the wildfire.
Sobouti said the detailed documents including photos, videos and pollution data have been prepared and sent to the DOE office so that they can pursue the case through diplomatic channels.
"The fire department, health clinics and pharmacies are on full alert and a healthcare bus has been stationed in the most crowded part of Hoveyzeh," the official said, adding that free masks are also being distributed among the residents.
Summertime Blazes
Since the beginning of summer, wildfires have broken out in several natural areas inside the country due to a rise in temperatures, a drop in humidity and desiccated vegetation.
Colonel Qasem Sabzali, commander of the protection unit at Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, told ILNA that the most serious case was a human-caused fire in Golestan Province which was extinguished in time and did not cause massive damage to natural resources.
"The culprits were identified and referred to judicial authorities," he said.
The other huge fire was in Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad which is still burning in some areas, he added. South Khorasan has also fallen victim to a summertime fire initiated by human activities. The offenders have been arrested and sentenced according to Sabzali.
Stubble burning in Khuzestan was another cause of a fire incident.
"Farmers could not control the fire and over 200 hectares of farmlands burned and the blaze spread further to forests and ranges," the official said.
He noted that over 95% of the wildfires are caused by humans which are often unintentional and due to a lack of knowledge, a fact which underlines the need for more educational programs for the public.
Preventive Measures
The DOE and FRWMO have both made efforts to prevent fires or contain them in the shortest possible time in case they break out.
Cooperation with armed forces and local communities, raising awareness and constant patrols of natural areas are among the measures.
"We have hired seasonal watchmen who are paid to immediately inform our forces of an incident or put out the fire themselves if possible," Sabzali said.
The chopper fleet of the army, the police and Red Crescent Society will also be at service based on memoranda of understanding.
Drones are used for patrolling natural areas in certain provinces at present and there are plans to expand the operations in cooperation with the Defense Ministry.
The ministry has also agreed to provide basic firefighting equipment for park rangers.
Ali Teymouri, director of the Hunting and Fishing Office at DOE, said the provincial offices are now in a much better condition than past years in terms of equipment.
"Fire-prone regions have been identified where urgent action teams are on standby in the summer," he said, adding that firefighting choppers are also stationed in six most fire-prone provinces including Golestan, Fars, East Azarbaijan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad, Lorestan and Khuzestan.
Last year, around 3,100 hectares of natural resources were destroyed in wildfires, a figure which was higher than the previous year with 2,500 hectares, DOE's official website quoted Teymouri as saying.
However, the figure is more promising than that of 2014 when 6,300 hectares were consumed by fire. The numbers show a decrease by half.
