The governor of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, Darcio de Freitas, declared a state of emergency on Saturday night in 45 cities, which are surrounded by large fires. People living in different places should be evacuated. Apart from these 45 cities, 41 more cities are on alert.
On two days last Thursday and Friday Morning mail The state of São Paulo reported 2,316 fires, 90% of which were caused by human activities and many of which were massive, seven times more than were recorded in the whole of August last year. This Saturday’s numbers have not yet been consolidated, but there were at least 400 new fires in the central-west, northwest and west of the state, and the tragedy has already affected cities such as Ribeirao Preto, Presidente Prudente, Sao José do Rio. In Preto, Araraquara, Aluminio, Sertãozinho, Pontal, Monte Alegre do Sul, Lucelia, Presidente Epitácio, Bebedouro and Urupês, two people died trying to put out a fire in a factory.
In Ribeirão Preto, a wealthy city of 711,000 people, associated with agribusiness and the epicenter of major fires, residents of the Bomfim Paulista neighborhood had to evacuate their homes as huge flames and thick clouds of smoke reached the area, a heavily wooded area. The situation is also dire in São José do Rio Preto, a city of 465,000 people, where heavy smoke has engulfed everything, making the air unbreathable and forcing the closure of schools and most commercial and sporting activities.
In dozens of cities across the state of São Paulo, the health system is suffocating due to a sharp increase in the number of people needing help, mainly due to respiratory problems and poisoning from smoke inhalation. Air traffic has been suspended in several cities, and many roads have been blocked, some with walls of flames more than 20 meters high.
In the state capital of São Paulo, hundreds of kilometers from the main fires, the sky turned dark on Saturday afternoon, the air was thick with smoke and gases, and the streets were filled with layers of soot on cars and asphalt and a strong smell of burning. Even though all the doors and windows were closed, the houses were invaded by soot particles, which compromised the breathing of many residents of this city and forced them to clean the properties two, three, four times in a single day, this is repeated. This Sunday, despite the rain the previous day.