Brazil's capital, accustomed to fresh air, suffocates in the smoke of forest fires August 30, 2024

The Brazilian National Congress is enveloped by forest fires on 27 August 2024 (EVARISTO SA)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Brazil's capital, accustomed to fresh air, suffocates in the smoke of forest fires

Ramon SAHMKOW

Brasilia's iconic futuristic buildings, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, have been shrouded in thick smoke in recent days.

Several parts of Brazil are choking due to forest fires, but the fumes are new to the modernist capital, whose residents are used to vast blue skies and clean air during the dry season.

‘I've lived in Brasilia for 30 years, but I've never experienced smoke like this,’ said Moacir do Nascimento Santo, 47, a driver with two young children.

‘(It) affects our breathing, our vision and is worrying for the children - they suffer from all the smoke,’ he told AFP.

Located in the center of the country, Brasilia was planned as the capital from scratch on an empty plateau in 1960 and is now home to 2.8 million people.

Its wide avenues, organized neighborhoods, and green, open spaces are very different from other Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo - and are much less polluted.

Forest fires have been raging in Brazil for several weeks, particularly in the Amazon rainforest in the north and in the huge Pantanal wetlands in the center-west of the country.

The smoke enveloping Brasilia is the result of fires near the capital, but also of winds carrying smoke from other regions, particularly from the south-eastern state of São Paulo, several hundred kilometers away, where bushfires devastated thousands of hectares of agricultural land last week.

The authorities say that most of the fires are caused by humans.

- ‘In the war against fire’ -

Many residents of Brasilia have equipped themselves with protective masks when they venture outside.

‘This time of year is normally dry, but this is the first time I've seen a cloud of smoke,’ said Isaac Tomas, an official in the Chamber of Deputies.

‘This is very worrying. I already have problems with rhinitis during the drought, but now, with the smoke, it's even worse.’

The Brasilia Environmental Institute declared on Sunday that the air quality was ‘very bad’. On Wednesday, the situation had improved, but not in all parts of the city.

Local health services reported an increase in rhinitis, asthma attacks, pneumonia, and conjunctivitis.

At Santa Lucia Hospital, the number of patients treated for respiratory illnesses on Monday was twenty times higher than average, according to Lucas Albanaz, a manager at the facility.

The doctor said patients ‘suffered from coughs, red eyes, dry mouth and skin and symptoms of dehydration.’

Brazil has long struggled with fires, largely due to slash-and-burn techniques used for the illegal expansion of agriculture.

An extreme drought, which experts link to climate change, has exacerbated the situation this year.

Environment Minister Marina Silva said this week that Brazil is at war with fire and crime’.

Due to the drought and ‘extreme temperatures’, the government on Tuesday extended an order requiring organizers of concerts, festivals, and other major events, including football matches, to provide free drinking water to spectators.

The measure first came into force last November after a 23-year-old woman died in a heatwave during a Taylor Swift concert in Rio.

rsr/app/lg/tmo/fb/nro