Rain, Firefighters Control Forest Fire

RAIN, firefighters, police and volunteers brought a huge brush fire on MountDúrika in the southern zone under control over the weekend, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) announced Monday.

The fire burned some 8,000 hectares of forest and pastureland, sources from the Emergency Commission said. The blaze started March 20 near the CeiboRiver headwaters on the slopes of MountDúrika, in the Buenos Aires canton of southern Puntarenas.

The Costa Rican government had asked the international community for helicopters and other equipment necessary to combat the fire, located between eight and 10 hours uphill by foot from the farthest point that can be reached by fourwheel drive vehicles.

Unexpected downpours helped the firefighting efforts, even though March is normally one of the hottest and driest months of summer in the affected zone, sources said.