The Operations Room of the General Directorate of Civil Defense received a report of a fire outbreak in the forests of Ras Al-Matn. Immediately, Civil Defense personnel headed to the fire site, where the wind speed led to the rapid spread of the flames. Reinforcements were brought in from Civil Defense centers deployed across all Lebanese territories. However, the ruggedness of the geographical area hindered fire-fighting vehicles from reaching the fire site. Consequently, a helicopter from the Lebanese Army Air Force was brought in, which was fed water from an artificial pond set up by Civil Defense personnel near the site. Tremendous efforts were exerted by Civil Defense members until they managed to control the flames at 6:30 PM yesterday. Cooling operations then commenced and continued until 10:30 PM to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Civil Defense vehicles remained at the fire site throughout the night and are still present to respond immediately if needed. Additionally, Civil Defense personnel had managed to extinguish another fire in a similarly rugged area within the forests of Ras Al-Matn just hours before this fire broke out.
In detail, after diligent efforts from 3:00 PM on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, until 7:00 AM on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, Civil Defense members, supported by operational units of the army, succeeded in extinguishing a fire that broke out in one of the steep forests of Ras Al-Matn. The personnel faced several difficulties in controlling the flames due to the lack of access roads to the fire site and the numerous slopes that obstructed firefighting vehicles, as well as the wind speed that expanded the fire area. The damage was limited to material losses.
