Suspect charged in Quito fire; Firefighters battle Guápulo hotspots; Dairy, poultry industries face emergency; Cuenca to resist security camera order

A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged with starting the massive Guápulo fire in Quito. Called one of the most destructive in Quito history, the fire destroyed homes and forests in the Bellavista and the Bolaños neighborhoods and in Metropolitan Park.

While an investigation is underway, police say only that the unnamed suspect, a resident of Guápulo, was found with a gallon of gasoline.

The ruins of a house destroyed in Tuesday’s fire in the Guápulo sector of Quito.

The suspect, supported by his family, acknowledges he started the fire but claims it was an accident that happened when he was burning garbage. According to his mother, the suspect has burns on his feet from attempting to stop the spread of the fire.

Quito firefighters battle hotspots and new fires
More than 100 firefighters continue to battle flare-ups from Tuesday’s devastating Guápulo fire in Quito. Small fires continue to reactivate in the area, including a large one in the Mount Auqui sector of eastern Quito. The fires have injured seven people and left another 20 homeless.

In addition, the fire service says personnel are on the scene at six other fires in southern Quito.

“We are not finished yet with this fire,” said fire chief Esteban Cárdenas. “It is continuing to reignite and spread and, because of its size, it requires a large force of personnel to control it.” He added that some fires, in unpopulated areas, are purposefully allowed to burn to create buffers near residential zones.

According to Cárdenas, the Guápulo fire will not be fully extinguished until the weekend and new fires in other areas of the city are requiring ongoing reassignment of firefighters. “We are facing one of the most dangerous fire seasons in years. It is a 24-hour a day job to maintain control.”

Dairy and poultry industries face emergency
Drought conditions are reducing production by Ecuador’s dairy and poultry industries and some farmers face bankruptcy without government help, farming groups say.

“We are hurting and many of us face ruin because of the shortage of corn to feed our chickens,” says Juan Francisco Jaramillo, president of the Poultry Farmers Corporation. “The lack of rain has created a shortage of 300,000 tons of yellow corn, which is essential for egg and meat production.”

Cattle graze on a dry pasture in Pichincha Province.

Jaramillo warned that the price of eggs could increase 50% without more corn. He added that egg production could collapse without help.

Dairy and beef cattle farmers face a similar crisis due to dry pastures. “If we do not have rain soon we will need assistance from the government or the industry could face a disaster,” said Oscar Ramos of the Pichincha Dairy Cooperative.

The Ministry of Agriculture acknowledges the crisis in both industries but says its ability to provide assistance is limited. The ministry says it is importing 95,000 tons of corn in September but says it may not be able to continue the imports. “The drought is driving up corn prices throughout South America, making more purchases prohibitive,” a ministry spokesman said Tuesday. “We understand we are in an emergency and are doing all we can to help.”

The dairy cooperative says milk production is dropping due to lack of productive pastureland. “If the trend continues, we will be unable to service the population,” Ramos said.

Cuenca to resist security camera order
Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora said Monday he will not turn over control of the city’s security cameras to the national government. Last week, President Daniel Noboa signed a decree that the national government’s ECU 911 service will assume monitoring responsibilities of security cameras operated by municipal and provincial governments.

“We will not comply with this,” Zamora said. “We insist on maintaining control of our local surveillance systems since we have a better understanding of our neighborhoods and local crime issues. I believe the president signed this order based on bad information and am hopeful it will be reserved.”

Zamora said he did not object to sharing information with ECU 911. “We are doing this already and have been for years but it is a matter of local autonomy that we have the right to maintain our own systems to protect our residents.”