In the mountainous forest region of Sierra de Bahoruco, Pedernales, the multi-agency forest firefighting teams that have been working around the clock to contain a large wildfire in the Pelempito-Aceitillar corridor have reached a critical operational milestone: as of this Saturday, all active containment work has concluded, and crews have shifted into the mop-up and surveillance phase of the response.
This milestone comes after teams completed planned containment lines and controlled backfires Friday night, operations that were briefly adjusted by unexpected overnight weather. Gerónimo Abreu, head of the Dominican Republic’s National Fire Management Program, confirmed that light overnight rainfall forced minor shifts to the original operational timeline, but crews did not pause progress. Firefighters persisted in securing and extending containment lines through the overnight hours, wrapping up the final section of line by mid-afternoon Friday before carrying out the last of the planned backfires to starve the main blaze of fuel.
Early morning damage and containment assessments carried out Saturday confirmed the wildfire is fully contained, with all operational resources now redirected to extinguishing remaining hot spots across the affected area and continuously monitoring containment lines for any signs of spread. As of Saturday’s assessment, the entire westernmost sector of the fire zone is completely extinguished. In the northern zone near Hoyo de Pelempito, however, a small number of lingering hot spots continue to produce smoke. This residual activity is tied to the region’s mixed forest composition, where dense accumulations of organic plant material can continue to smolder for days even after the main fire is contained.
In the southern sector of the fire zone, response teams maintain round-the-clock surveillance and active cleanup work within the established containment perimeter. Crews are conducting on-the-ground checks to confirm that both human-built containment lines and natural geographic barriers are holding, eliminating any remaining unextinguished fuel within the controlled area.
For the remainder of this mop-up phase, most deployed personnel will be focused on the northern and southeastern sectors of the fire zone. Crews will continue cleanup work, conduct regular inspections of all containment lines, and treat any hot spots that could potentially reignite under warm, dry conditions. Response teams will remain stationed in the area through the entirety of the mop-up and surveillance phase, only demobilizing once all cleanup tasks are fully completed and all reignition risks are eliminated. This extended presence is designed to consolidate control of the fire and prevent the blaze from flaring back up after containment.
In a public statement accompanying the operational update, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources renewed its urgent appeal to all residents and visitors to avoid any use of fire in wooded areas. This includes open burning, unextinguished campfires, and any other irresponsible fire activity that could spark new blazes, particularly during periods of dry, warm weather that create ideal conditions for wildfire spread. The ministry emphasized that proactive prevention and responsible public behavior are the most foundational tools for protecting fragile forest ecosystems, and for reducing the life-threatening risks that frontline wildfire response teams face when responding to new ignitions.