Crews fight Dominican Republic’s first seasonal forest fire

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry on Monday said its crews have been battling a forest fire since the weekend near the town of Mata Grande, San José de las Matas, in an area next to the Central Mountains.

Environment minister Bautista Rojas said more additional crews were immediately sent to the site in an effort to quell the blaze and noted that his agency has been preparing to deal with such forest fires successfully.

He said Environment has been adopting preventive measures since the start of the year and respond to any emergency that could arise.

"Despite the drought, which is a breeding ground for fires, damage reported to date for this cause have been minimum thanks to the effective implementation of the Environment Ministry’s plan to prevent forest fires nationwide," the official said.