10170856_10151980797726582_6457791129856384471_n Picture taken from GreenResistance

A massive fire destroyed yesterday a great part of the Betshai forest in the Baabda area. Residents claimed it was the biggest fire they’ve seen in years and some of them blamed the civil defense units and the authorities for their inefficient and late response. At this point, we are all to blame for what happened, because we are not taking the whole civil defense issue seriously.

These firefighters are volunteers who are very badly equipped (if equipped at all) and don’t get paid a penny for what they are doing. I am not saying they shouldn’t their job properly if they are volunteers, and I am sure they are doing their best, but don’t blame them when the authorities don’t give them their most basic needs to fight fires. They have old fire trucks, old equipment, no substances to fight the fires and sometimes barely any water.

The first thing that this government and the concerned ministries should do, even before electing a new president, is setting up a decent firefighting unit and making sure they are ready for the summer. Otherwise, more forests will get burned down (intentionally or not) and more ugly buildings will replace them.