PEDERNALES. - The forest fire that for the last 6 days had been charring thousands of acres of forests of pine and other trees in the Baoruco Range (southwest) was brought under control yesterday and it’s expected to be doused today despite intense winds.

The national director against Forest Fires, Jeronimo Abreu confirmed the information, after touring the area with the provincial authorities on a helicopter yesterday.

Abreu said that in El Aceitillar, another zone where forest fires have occurred in previous years, other forestry brigades are at the ready to prevent blazes caused by winds, arson or any natural phenomenon

For his part Pedernales province governor Alberto Jiménez called "heroes" the more than 150 men who for 6 days have been working amidst the heat, darkness, the sun, thirst and fatigue to put out what he describes as one of the most frightful fires in the Baoruco Range National Park.