Ecuador declares national emergency as wildfires, drought intensify

quito, ecuador — 

Ecuador's authorities declared a 60-day nationalist exigency owed to raging wood fires made worse by terrible drought conditions, the country's hazard absorption secretariat announced successful a connection Monday.

Declaring a nationalist exigency allows the authorities to escaped up funds to tackle the multi-faceted crisis, including wildfires successful respective provinces.

The South American state faces 17 progressive wildfires and different 5 that person been controlled, the secretariat added.

In the astir affected provinces, Azuy and Loja, the flames person consumed much than 10,000 hectares.

Eight firefighting helicopters were combating fires, the connection said. That includes astatine slightest 3 that were sent by Peru and Italy.

One of the worst fires was successful the Cajas National Park.The South American state has been rationing energy owed to the drought. The exigency decree comes arsenic Ecuador struggles with an vigor situation that has led to powerfulness outages of up to 14 hours a time successful caller months.

Low h2o levels owed to the drought person caused the reservoirs for the hydroelectric plants — that usually supply for 70% of nationalist request — to autumn to captious levels, leaving the state to look an "unprecedented crisis," according to Ecuador's Energy Minister Ines Manzano.