About 30 residents, including men, women, elderly and children, fought a fire on Uros Island 2022, in the city of Puno, exactly in Los Uros Chulluni around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
The neighbors fought hard to prevent the flames from reaching their homes and schools, until they finally reached the river, extinguished around 22 hours. The fire caused damage in an area of 8 hectares, as reported by the Regional Emergency Operations Center of the District Government of Puno - COER Puno, which since early Wednesday morning follows the current situation.
“In three hours, no institution was present,” say the villagers. After the fire broke out, people called 116, but no one came immediately. As the huge flames spread, residents had to fight the threat alone; men, women, children and the elderly worked together to put out the fires that threatened their homes and educational institutions.
“At 10 o'clock at night the fire spread to the river and fortunately it ended there, we defended our house,” said one resident. As they explained, the trip from the city of Puno to the island takes about 30 minutes and at night it can be dangerous because of the swell. This is probably why the firefighters did not arrive on the scene.
Villagers battled fire to save homes and school
According to the first version, the fire on the island was probably caused by the fact that the inhabitants of the island often set themselves on fire to renew the cattails. This practice is always done, but they did not realize to what extent it would happen or what damage it would cause.
The flames were concentrated at the height of the checkpoint, so they believe that other floating islands in this tourist area of the Puno region could also be affected. Near the dangerous site is an educational institution and it was feared that the flames could reach there.
It is said that around 700 people live on the floating island of the Uros. As it is known their house is made of totora reeds and is located on lago Titicaca, a major tourist destination in the southern region. Many citizens had to leave their homes because of the smoke, because they presented general malaise and flu because of the smoke.
Official information contradicts what villagers say
Contrary to what was said by the villagers, according to preliminary reports of the Deputy Management of Civil Defense and Disaster Risk Management of the Municipality of Puno, the fire started around 17:00 hours. And “with the efforts of the residents of the area, along with firefighters and the port authority, the fire was controlled until the evening”.
COER Puno is monitoring the current situation in collaboration with officials of Civil Defense and Disaster Risk Management of the Municipality of Puno. The respective entities are conducting an additional assessment today, Wednesday, November 9.
