The 2021 Nuevo León wildfires were a series of

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

that broke out in late March and early April 2021 in the Mexican state of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

. The wildfires in Nuevo León were fueled mostly by

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

, high winds, and high temperatures. Media in Mexico had reported that 12 out of the 61 fires burning across the country were located in 8 protected natural areas, including the

Cumbres de Monterrey National Park The Cumbres de Monterrey (, ; English: "Summits of Monterrey") is a national park of Mexico located in the northern portion of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila, near the city of Monterrey. The park protects more ...

in the state of Nuevo León. Most of the wildfires that were burning in the state were near the city of

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. On March 25, 1,100 residents had to be evacuated in at least 14 communities because of a major wildfire that was burning in the Sierra de Santiago region. The fire began in the neighboring state of

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

near the city of Arteaga on March 16. The fire was previously at 70% containment days later, but due to wind gusts reaching 90 kilometers per hour, the fire spread quickly over state lines into Nuevo León and authorities issued residents to evacuate immediately.

Background

The Mexico wildfire season mostly starts from March and ends in May. But the 2021 wildfire season in Mexico is one of the worst fire seasons the country has faced in more than a decade, the major wildfires mostly being in Nuevo León. The wildfires in the state are mostly blamed for the ongoing drought in North America that is fueling hundreds of wildfires across the

continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

. A DC-10 Air Tanker was used to battle the wildfires in the Cumbres de Monterrey National Park. Smoke from the wildfires affected the state's air quality. The smoke from the fires could also be visible from the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Aftermath

References

{{2021 wildfires

Natural disasters in Mexico 2021 disasters in Mexico March 2021 in Mexico April 2021 in Mexico 2021 wildfires