Porto Alegre, February 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Tuesday (3) was the second day of an effort by the fire department to extinguish a blaze in a reforested area between Quintão and Mostardas, on the state's northern coast. The Airborne Military Police Group (GPMA), which is providing aerial surveillance, estimated that it would probably take another 48 hours for the hot spots to be snuffed out completely.

Major Antônio César Carbone Ribas, coordinator of the operation, said that the hot spots are isolated, approximately 700 meters apart. He added that their distribution suggests that the cause of the fire was human rather than natural. The major explained that, even if there is a change in wind direction, the fire does not constitute a threat to residences and ecological sites in the region. (DAS)