Wildfire — Western Interior, Puerto Rico

2003-03-16 to 2003-03-19 · near Maricao, Western Interior, Puerto Rico

Event narrative

The lack of significant rainfall in the Maricao State Forest during the month of March, typical of this time of the year, contributed to the dry conditions which helped fuel a forest fire which burned 296 acres during a period of four days. Over a 100,00 gallons of water were used to control the wild fire. Flora and fauna was severely impacted . The western interior region of Puerto Rico showed a rainfall deficiency of around 85 percent through the last two weeks of February through the first two weeks of March 2003.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5347323. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.