"It feels like punishment," said 56-year-old Fernando Muirragui, whose house barely escaped the flames authorities believe were the work of arsonists.
The misery just "seems to pile up," Rolando Marcillo, a 60-year-old carpenter in the fire-hit Bellavista neighborhood complained, calling the fires "the last straw."
Ecuador is one of several South American nations battling record wildfires that have consumed millions of hectares amid one of the most severe droughts in years, linked by experts to climate change.
The Andean country has received almost no rain for nearly three months, making it tinder-dry.
So far this year it has recorded 3,300 forest fires that have destroyed nearly 38,000 hectares of vegetation.
Quito, a city of around three million people situated at a vertiginous 9,350 feet (2,850 meters), has been battling blazes for three weeks.
Five new fires broke out simultaneously Tuesday on the capital's eastern outskirts, some of which were still burning a day later despite the efforts of about 2,000 firefighters, soldiers, and rescuers.
One man has been arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting one of the fires.
Six people have been injured and about 100 families moved to safety as residents tried to save their homes with buckets of water carted sometimes over long distances.
- Losing money -
The fires could not have come at a worse time, with 20 of Ecuador's 24 provinces on "red alert" due to drought.
The country, which relies heavily on hydroelectric power, is facing severe energy shortages and has introduced rolling blackouts of up to 12 hours a day, while drinking water is in ever shorter supply.
The business sector has estimated its losses at about $12 million per hour of power lost.
"We are losing money because we cannot sell cold products like beverages even as the heat has increased demand," grocery store owner Ana Topon, 77, told AFP.
"We are ordering fewer perishable products like meat, which now cannot be stored due to the risk of spoilage" with fridges and freezers more offline than on.
With farmers battling to keep thirsty crops and livestock alive, consumers are starting to feel the sting of price increases.
"Everything is going up because of the drought," said 59-year-old homemaker Consuelo, who did not want to give her surname.
"A bag of vegetables still costs a dollar, but it comes with fewer tomatoes, fewer onions, fewer peppers, and the vendors think we don't notice."
About 40,000 hectares of crops have been affected by drought and fire, according to Agriculture Minister Danilo Palacios.
- 'Criminals take advantage' -
Quito residents are navigating a perfect storm of crises.
Apart from the food shortages, rising prices and flames, they also live in fear of armed gangs looking to exploit the chaos.
The once peaceful country of 17 million inhabitants has seen its homicide rate increase eightfold in five years as gangs vying for control of the drug trade wage war with the state.
The lawlessness has been concentrated in prisons and port areas, but has also reached Quito, where several clashes have been reported in recent days.
A shooting at a hair salon killed five people last Friday.
Muirragui, whose home was nearly consumed by flames on Tuesday, said the rise in criminal activity made people loathe to evacuate their properties.
"You can't leave things unattended because criminals take advantage of your absence to steal," he said.
Quito fires coming under control after choking capital
Quito (AFP) Sept 26, 2024 -
Firefighters in Ecuador's capital were battling the remnants of major forest fires on Thursday that had sent massive plumes of smoke above Quito earlier this week, amid a record drought.
Helicopters dumped water to extinguish the flames at two burning sites that remained from about 30 fires, which had devastated 140 hectares of forest on the outskirts of the Andean capital since Tuesday.
"Normality is beginning to be restored in the capital city," Mayor Pabel Munoz told local media, adding that he was confident the remaining fires would be extinguished by Friday morning.
However, he warned there was always the risk of the flames rekindling as hot summer winds in the capital can reach up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour.
The blazes injured six people, including a baby and two firefighters. They also destroyed at least seven homes in the humble neighborhood Bolanos, whose residents scrambled to save their pigs, chickens and sheep.
Authorities said they believed the fires were started by arsonists, and on Wednesday a 19-year-old man was arrested for starting one of the fires after being found with a gallon of fuel.
After declaring a state of emergency in Quito, the mayor is seeking to negotiate loans of $500,000 for the reconstruction of affected properties and the recovery of flora.
"We have lost many trees, a lot of vegetation," said Munoz.
From Ecuador to Brazil, many Latin American nations are gripped by their worst drought in decades, fueling a blistering fire season that has set residents and governments on edge.
The Ecuadoran government is considering a nationwide state of emergency due to its worst drought in six decades which has also devastated crop production.
Due to the dry spell, the country, which depends on hydroelectric power, is facing severe energy shortages and has implemented rolling blackouts.
"The phenomena of climate change are more aggressive and this is what we are experiencing at the moment," Environment Minister Inez Manzano told a local broadcaster.
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