Sawt Falasteen - Ecuador firefighters battle blazes choking capital

Thick plumes of ash and smoke rose above the Andean city on Tuesday, and an acrid haze remained a day later, prompting residents to wear masks when on the streets.

Some 2,000 firefighters, military personnel and rescue workers have been deployed to try to contain the blazes and evacuate residents in at-risk areas.

So far at least six people have been injured and 100 families moved to safety.

Pablo Munoz, Quito's mayor, described the situation as "critical" and said two firefighters had been hurt battling the flames.

"Quito is under attack," city security official Carolina Andrade said, adding that two adults and two children were also among the injured.

The emergency led President Daniel Noboa to cancel his speech at the UN General Assembly and return home from New York on Tuesday.

Authorities believe the fires were started by arsonists.

-'We lost everything' -

Schools suspended classes and government offices ordered remote work due to poor air quality in the city of three million people.

"I wanted to save something, but we didn't get anything," said Alexis Condolo, a 23-year-old mechanic whose home burned down.

"We found the house in ashes. We lost everything. We only have a few clothes left."

Because of the smoke, "I had to sleep with a mask and wet wipes on top" of the mask, Claudio Otalima, an 82-year-old retiree, told AFP.

Quito has been battling forest fires for three weeks.

In Brazil, fires have consumed millions of hectares of forest and farmland in recent weeks, and smoke has clouded major cities such as Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with fumes at times wafting across the border to Argentina and Uruguay.

The Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service said Monday that fires in the Amazon and Pantanal wetlands were the worst in almost two decades.

The dry spell -- which scientists have linked to climate change -- has also sent fires burning out of control in Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru.

The situation across the continent on Monday saw Amnesty International urge its leaders to do more to abandon fossil fuels and transform the industrial agricultural model.

"South American leaders must, more than ever, take urgent action to prevent climate catastrophe that could have irreversible consequences for humanity and for the planet," Amnesty International said Monday.

- Power crisis -

Ecuador is facing its worst drought in six decades.

As a result, the country, which depends on hydroelectric power, is facing severe energy shortages and has implemented rolling blackouts and put 20 of its 24 provinces on red alert.

Over the past year, 3,302 forest fires have been recorded, burning 37,808 hectares (93,400 acres) of vegetation.

Fourteen people have been injured, 797 affected and 44,742 livestock have died, according to a report published Tuesday by the Risk Secretariat.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST