SAO PAULO (AP) — Wildfires in Brazil’s southern state of Sao Paulo have killed at least two people, officials said Saturday, putting at least 36 cities on high alert.
According to Sao Paulo state Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, local and federal authorities are doing everything they can to control the flames.
The fires are raging in the region around the city of Sao Paulo, one of the most populous cities in Latin America with more than 11 million inhabitants.
At least 7,300 government workers and volunteers were deployed across the state to “contain the advance and put out these fires,” de Freitas told reporters. De Freitas warned that the flames, fanned by a heat wave and drought, could be fanned by strong winds.
While the city itself has been largely unaffected by the fires, videos on social media show smoke filling the skies over rural areas and trees burning along the highway.
The government said two workers at an industrial plant were killed Friday in the city of Urupes while trying to fight a fire, but few details were released.
According to local news organization Folha de S.Paulo, the region is being ravaged by the worst forest fires in decades, with 4,973 fires in the region this year alone.
