Fire hits forest area in Careiro da Várzea and municipality records 'very bad' air quality; VIDEOS

Fires reached vegetation areas in rural communities of Careiro da Várzea, in the interior of Amazonas, between Thursday night (8) and Friday afternoon (9). The records include flames in the Bom Futuro community, areas destroyed by fire in the Autaz Mirim district and a fire in the Japuarana community.

This Friday morning (9), Rede Amazônica was in the district of Autaz Mirim and showed the effects of the fire on the vegetation. The images reveal an area completely destroyed by fire. According to information from Careiro da Várzea City Hall, the flames had already been controlled at the time of recording.

The team also saw vehicles from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and Prevfogo, the sector responsible for preventing and fighting forest fires, heading towards the area.

Residents of the Bom Futuro community recorded the flames during the night of Thursday (8). In the images, it is possible to see the fire spreading through the vegetation in the darkness. The video also captures the noise of the flames as they burn the forest.

This Friday afternoon (9), images recorded in the Japuarana community show another fire affecting the vegetation.

Air quality in Careiro da Várzea

Due to the fires, the municipality recorded "terrible" air quality in the early hours of the morning, according to the Electronic Environmental Surveillance System (Selva), from the State University of Amazonas (UEA). At 5:33 am, the concentration of polluting particles reached 302.3 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³).

In the early afternoon of this Friday (9), at 12:37 pm, Careiro da Várzea continued to experience a high level of pollution. According to Selva, the air quality was now classified as "very poor", with a concentration of polluting particles of 75.8 µg/m³.

Manaus records the worst air quality in Brazil

In addition to the situation in Careiro da Várzea, Manaus dawned this Friday (9) covered by a dense layer of smoke. For the second day in a row, the capital of Amazonas recorded the worst air quality in Brazil, according to the international platform IQAir.

At around 5am, the Air Quality Index (AQI⁺) reached 366, classified as "dangerous" by IQAir. The concentration of fine PM2.5 particles reached 258.2 µg/m³.

Around 6 am, the neighborhoods of Morro da Liberdade, Educandos and nearby areas recorded concentrations of up to 320.2 µg/m³ of polluting particles.

Air quality is considered good by Selva when the concentration of particles is between 0 and 25 µg/m³. Above this level, the indices undergo classifications that vary from moderate to terrible, according to the scale used by the Selva System.

Faced with pollution, Civil Defense issued a severe warning and recommended the use of masks to reduce exposure to smoke. The Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam) also suspended in-person activities this Friday (9) due to low air quality.