Fires Eat Up Wild Woods Overlooking Beirut
A huge fire broke out in forests surrounding four villages southeast of Beirut Tuesday eating up thousands of wild trees.
Civil defense Directorate manager Darwish Hobeika indicated the fires are premeditated, saying they broke out before dawn, which is not normal in summer fires that erupt due to heat.
Civil defense teams, Lebanese Army helicopters and Cypriot choppers took part in trying to combat the blaze as tongues of flame shot up in the sky and smoke billowed from the slopes overlooking Beirut.
The civil defense Directorate said the blaze could threaten the villages of Basatine, Qabr Shmoun, Sarhamoul and Ainab, southeast of the capital.
Wild wood fires are common in Lebanon during the summer season.