Wildfires ravage parched wetlands in Danube delta

BUCHAREST (AFP) Aug 10, 2003
Wildfires have ravaged dried-up wetlands for nearly three days in the Danube delta in eastern Romania were being brought under control on Sunday, the Mediafax agency reported.

Some 600 hectares (1,400 acres) of reed went up in smoke near Grindul Rosu, in the eastern part of the delta that borders the Black Sea.

The fauna and flora in the area are part of UNESCO's World Heritage list, but according to the head of the Delta Natural Reservation, they were not endangered by the fires, which hit only dry, dead vegetation.

The fire apparently was started by discarded cigarette butts.

A record heatwave has brought the Danube to abnormally low levels, hindering firefighters as it became next to impossible to move around the wetlands, a an official was quoted as saying.

TERRA.WIRE