Wildfires Flare Again: 15 Active Fires Nationwide, Cali Blaze Injures Two Firefighters

A month after Tolima's fires forced a national public-calamity declaration, UNGRD reported 15 active wildfires nationwide on September 18 — nine in Tolima (Alvarado, Armero, Ataco, Ortega, Prado, San Luis, Villahermosa, Villarrica), two each in Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca, and one each in Cauca, Huila and Nariño — with nine more fires brought under control by 6 p.m. In Cali, a blaze that ignited at 1:25 p.m. on September 17 in Altos de Menga burned over 70 hectares, damaged five homes, injured two firefighters and sent an elderly woman to hospital for smoke inhalation before being controlled at 10:20 p.m.; Mayor Alejandro Eder said the fire was likely 'caused by criminal hands.' Huila's cumulative 2026 toll reached 2,300 hectares burned across 161 incidents in 22 municipalities amid temperatures above 35°C, reviving official suspicion — first raised over the August Tolima fires blamed on FARC dissidents and illegal miners — that some blazes are being deliberately set to divert security forces.