National Park Fire Still Not Under Control
At least 2.000 hectares of the Parque Nacional Guanacaste have been consumed by fire since it broke out last Friday and firefighters are still not able to bring it under control.

The park is located in the northwest corner of the country, near the town of La Cruz, a short distance from the border with Nicaragua.

More than 200 people, including volunteers working with firefighters have been battling the blaze for the last couple of days and hope to bring up under control by today, according to Daniel Gallardo, president of the Comisión Nacional de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE).

A fly over of the area shows that four of the five fires in the part are still burning intesely and officials fear the fire could spread into neighbouring Parque Nacional Santa Rosa.

The CNE has called a "yellow" alert for the area, allowing it to funnel resources to the area to put out the fire, which according to Gallardo could be in a couple of days.

Temperatures in the area have reached 37 Celsius (989 Fahrenheit) and strong winds have made the firefighters job even more difficult.

In addition, fatigue, dehydration and visual, respiratory and muscular problems are affecting the firefighters in their battle with blaze.

Animals such as rabbits, snakes, armadillos, deer, among other fauna species, could not escape from the fire.

Luis Diego Román, of the Programa Nacional de Manejo del Fuego del Minae (national fire prevention program) said that the regeneration of the area could take up to 40 years.