A fire devastated at least 100 hectares of the La Yeguada Forest Reserve, in the province of Veraguas, in Panama, and although the Fire Department claims to have controlled the fire on Thursday night, the authorities fear that it may be lit again, as happened previously.

The fire began on Wednesday afternoon and was temporarily controlled that same day, but the intensification of the wind plus the increase in temperature caused the flames to be fanning.

For now, the fire control work took more than 24 hours due to the atmospheric conditions of strong winds and high temperatures, as well as the topography of the terrain, which is very irregular, added to how flammable the presence of pine plantations in the affected forest is.

They are investigating the causes of the fire

The La Yeguada Forest Reserve is a protected area composed of 7,090 hectares and its function is to conserve the upper basin of the San Juan and Barrero Grande rivers, which in turn contributes to the water supply for the operation of the most important hydroelectric plant in the country.

So far, the causes that caused the fire are unknown, for which an investigation was opened, according to CNN by firefighters and the Ministry of the Environment.