The 2021 Nuevo León wildfires were a series of

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

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

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

. The wildfires in Nuevo León were fueled mostly by

drought A drought is defined as 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, an ...

, 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 ( es, Parque Nacional 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 c ...

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

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

. 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 ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

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 landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

. 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Aftermath

References

{{2021 wildfires 2021 wildfires Natural disasters in Mexico