Northern Morocco has stepped up preparations to respond to potential wildfires as a sharp rise in temperatures puts the region among the areas most at risk of forest fires, according to local officials.
Othmane Azzawi, regional director of Morocco’s National Agency for Water and Forests in Tangier, said authorities and agencies responsible for fighting fires remain on high alert and are maintaining full readiness to respond to any emergency.
He said the agencies are coordinating with the agency’s central administration to update maps identifying areas at heightened risk of wildfires.
Azzawi told Hespress that the military, gendarmerie, auxiliary forces, civil protection, water and forestry officials and local authorities are all maintaining a high level of vigilance because of the elevated temperatures and the region’s dense forest and vegetation cover.
Firefighting equipment has been positioned at strategic locations near areas considered vulnerable, he said. The resources include Canadair firefighting aircraft, Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie aircraft used for firefighting operations and drones equipped with advanced thermal cameras to detect hotspots and guide ground crews to affected areas.
The heightened readiness comes as a weather warning forecasts temperatures of around 42 degrees Celsius in provinces including Ouazzane and Larache. Tangier, Chefchaouen and Tetouan are also experiencing significant temperature increases, along with other parts of the country.
The conditions have raised concerns about wildfires in northern Morocco, a region that regularly faces elevated fire risks during the summer because of its extensive forest cover.
Data previously released by the National Agency for Water and Forests showed that the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region ranked second nationally in the number of wildfires recorded through July, with nearly 70 fires.
Tangier, Tetouan and Chefchaouen have also recorded several fires in recent weeks, which authorities said were contained with limited damage to the region’s forest cover.
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