2 wildfires in an area northeast of Belmopan were successfully controlled by the Forest Department, with help from the Belmopan City Council and Westar Services. The crew maintained their firefighting efforts well into the night to ensure that the fires wouldn't simply flare-up the next day.  The crew will now move in to address other escaped fires in areas south of Belmopan. The Ministry also notes that today's temperatures have decreased somewhat from the 107 degrees Fahrenheit recorded during the weekend to the mid-90s.

The Forest Department's Wildland Fire crew, which operates in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, was able to tackle a large wildfire that was raging in the Vaca Forest Reserve on multiple fronts. The Forest Department Fire Crew will continue to fight the fires on the southern and western flanks in the hopes of preventing a spread into the Chiquibul National Park.

The Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment, and Sustainable Development notes that there are wildfires occurring in other parts of the country, and those include St. Herman's Cave, Springfield, and Bladen Nature Reserve. With the help of the Belize Audubon Society, the Ya'axche Conservation Trust, and the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, these fires are being controlled.

But, there is a regional perspective to wildfires as well. From the Ministry's perspective, the situation, for the neighboring countries of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, is 10 times worse. Smoke from fires all the way down in Nicaragua and Honduras is affecting Belize, and the pollution is being noticed all the way in the outer Cayes.

In Belize, there were 237 fires detected in the past 24 hours. In Guatemala, 977 were detected, and in Nicaragua, there were 1970 fires detected. In Southern Mexico, satellites have picked up 2,821 active fires, and in Honduras, there were 3,580 fires detected. This regional map puts all those detections into perspective.