It’s October and once again forest fires are raging and the Civil Defence are not properly equipped to contain them. The Rabweh fire has been ongoing for four days now and the rough terrain is making very difficult to contain the fire, let alone extinguish it.

While it’s understandable to have difficulties containing a fire in such a rough geographical location, it’s unacceptable not to have a proper budget allocated to preventing such fires and equipping the civil defence units properly. Add to that the fact that the majority of fires in Lebanon are man-made.

The focus right now is on preventing the flames from reaching residential areas but the concerned ministries should also work on protecting people from the hazardous air pollutants from these fires, especially in nearby schools and for people at risk.