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Wildfire Threatening Dominican Republic’s Highest City

fires in Dominican Republic
Wildfires in Valle Nuevo National Park are threatening the Dominican Republic's highest city, Constanza.

A wildfire was spotted at Valle Nuevo National Park in the Dominican Republic on April 28,2015, and it continues to spread, threatening the highland city of Constanza and forcing people to flee from the heavy smoke.

The blaze has already burned 10 kilometers and the Santiago province was inundated with ash raining down.

Valle Nuevo National Park is located just 15 kilometers south of Constanzo, which, at 1,100 meters above sea level is the Dominican Republic’s highest city. The park is approximately 910 square kilometers and borders several provinces. Currenlty the fire is three kilometers from Constanza and is threatening the city. Air quality in the city has degraded forcing those with respiratory problems to leave.

NASA’s Aqua satellite collected this natural-color image with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, instrument on April 29, 2015, just one day after the fire was spotted. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner