FOREST FIRES | Joao Velozo

A Local Farmer in Nobres, State of Mato Grosso watches as a cloud of smoke rises from a fire on a farm.

A farmer watches as a fire burns through a field in the District of Bom Jardim, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Cerrado Region is one of the most affected in the Amazon. The hot and dry climate added to strong winds helped to spread the fires rapidly.

A local Farmer putting out small fires in a scorched area of a farm in Nobres, State of Mato Grosso. The scorched areas of a fire can still become a danger, as a small spark from a burned tree can trigger another fire in the vicinity. After six hours of fighting, due to high temperatures of the afternoon and strong winds the fire became uncontrollable, no one could do nothing but watch and try to save some small areas of the farm. Lt. Whiby: "it's really frustrating we did everything we could, but the farm owner really didn't care about any fire safety measure, when the fire came there was no water, tank trucks or enough buffer zones, the result is this all the fields and crops destroyed."

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