About 400 hectares were devastated on Friday by the fire that broke out in the Bab Azhar forest in the municipality of Smià (circle of Tahla) in the province of Taza, local sources said, saying that no human loss has not been recorded.
In order to preserve their safety, 420 inhabitants of eight douars were evacuated far from the hearths of fire, specifies one. The same source reports the strengthening of intervention capacities at land and air levels as well as an increased mobilization of human, technical and logistical resources in order to control the fire. Teams made up of hundreds of members of the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Civil Protection, the Auxiliary Forces, elements of the National Water and Forests Agency and local authorities, supported by technical land and air, were mobilized to contain the fire that broke out Thursday morning in the Bab Azhar forest.
Twelve tanker trucks, two Canadair aircraft specializing in firefighting and 12 ambulances were also mobilized.
The fires, whose outbreak was favored by high temperatures and strong winds, affected the forest cover composed mainly of conifers and secondary plant types. The nature of the terrain in this area also complicated the mission of the intervention teams to bring the flames under control.