As if the relentless Israeli airstrikes aren’t keeping our Civil Defense and rescue units busy, the month of October is here and fires are raging all over Lebanon. Over 20 fires dispersed all over Lebanon including the Chouf area, Kerserwan (Jeita), Matn, Aley, Tyre, Saida, Akkar, Ehden and others were reported only today by the Civil Defense official account.

For those wondering why the fire season begins in October, it’s for several reasons:
– October is a dry month with strong wind activity and a significant decrease in humidity.
– Farmers are cleaning up their lands and starting fires.
– Vegetation cover is greatly reduced.

Add to that arson fires and you have the worst possible month for firefighting units.

Five years ago, we had a disastrous October with over 120 fires and it’s gonna happen again if we don’t ready ourselves. If the government is broke as it always has been, municipalities need to step up and find private funds to train firefighting members and implement fire prevention methods. Akkar is doing an excellent job with their firefighting teams yet they need consistent funding to stay operational and capable of controlling fires swiftly.

It’s time to make this a high priority before we run out of forests to save.