The fires that erupted about two weeks ago in the mountains of Kasserine state, especially in the closed military areas in the Mghila, Salloum and Shaanbi mountains, in addition to other fires in the mountains of Tayousha, Tam Samida, and others…

The head of the Kasserine Forest Department, Yamen Hakki, confirmed in a statement to the JDD Tunisie website on Sunday, July 4, that forest agents and guards are stationed at several control points near these fires to prevent them from reaching the neighboring residential areas, which would cause serious damage to public and private properties.

He stated that the fire in mountain Tayousha, between the commissions of Sbeiba and Sbeitla, has been going on for three days, noting that the Civil Protection continues its efforts to control the fires that devoured large areas of vegetation and forest cover

hundreds of hectares

Yamen Haqi confirmed that about 114 hectares of forests have been consumed by fire outside the closed military areas so far, according to preliminary estimates, and that the area burned in Mount Tam Smaida exceeds 70 hectares, noting that forest agents will shift from tomorrow Monday to calculate the burned areas.

Haqqi pointed out that the Civil Protection Units are finding it difficult to control the Mount Tayousha fire, especially since the fire broke out in a very rugged area called “The Dog’s Cave,” saying that the agents are trying to put out the fire by all possible means.

Causes of fires

The head of the Forestry Department in Kasserine stated that investigations are continuing to uncover the real causes of the simultaneous outbreak of all these fires, especially since the fires came very close to residential areas and caused cases of suffocation among the residents, especially in this hot weather in which temperatures exceeded forty.

Yamen Haqi refused to comment on the accusations of the residents of Kasserine that the military institution caused the fire to erupt as a result of artillery shelling carried out by the army before the fires spread, saying, “These matters are beyond my scope and I cannot confirm or deny them.”

Most fires are caused by humans

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources revealed in a previous report that only 4 percent of the fires that broke out in 2020 were caused by natural factors, i.e. due to high temperatures, while the percentage of human cause of fires reached 96 percent.

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Human neglect leads to the outbreak of fires of varying severity, keeping the fire burning and leaving cigarette butts in the forest, in addition to a number of vandals committing crimes against nature, as well as accusations against coal merchants, without forgetting the indiscriminate camping.