A large wildfire near Qobeiyat, Akkar. (Credit: Antoine Daher)
BEIRUT — A volunteer died Wednesday while battling large wildfires that erupted in north Lebanon, threatening homes and forcing residents to evacuate.
Here’s what we know:
• The volunteer died while helping battle a blaze near Kfartoun, the NNA reported.
• Fires were also reported in the vicinity of Qobeiyat and Beino. “The fire broke out on state land at the road connecting Qobeiyat to Hermel, in the Bekaa region,” Antoine Daher, president of the Qobeiyat Environment Committee, told our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour. “It is a pine and oak forest. What is suspicious about this fire is the fact that it broke out very suddenly and dramatically, which leads us to believe that it is a criminal act,” he said.
• A military helicopter has been dispatched to the scene.
• In the area of Beino, the flames have ravaged some 2,000 square meters of olive trees and oaks.
• Civil Defense teams alone are incapable of putting out the fires due to lack of adequate equipment, L’Orient-Le Jour reported.
• The Red Cross announced on Twitter that its teams were sent to the site to “provide first aid and evacuate civilians.”
Update: This article has been updated with the death of the volunteer while fighting the blaze.