Crews battle forest fire near the country’s tallest peak

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry said its crews work to douse a forest fire that began Monday afternoon in the area known as Valle de los Caos, near Pico Duarte, in Dominican Repubilc’s rugged Central Mountains.

Dozens of firefighters work since early morning Tuesday at Bermudez National Park, in the rugged Central Mountains, to prevent the blaze from spreading and charring more of the mostly pine forests.

Manuel Serrano, Environment deputy minister of Forests, said Air Force helicopters ferried crews of firefighters and special equipment to put out the flames near Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest peak at 10,380 feet .

Although the Environment Ministry authorities rule out arson as the cause of the blaze because there’s no farming in the area, they note that it’s where boar hunters often light campfires, for which it warns visitors to mountainous areas against setting fires in forested areas.