"Holy Water" in Guanacaste
The heavy rain that fell on Guanacaste's northern zone yesterday was a blessing to the hundreds of firefighters, volunteers and MINAE personnel, to put out the forest forest fire that consumed more than 2.000 hectares of the Parque Nacional Guanacaste.

The fire had raged since last Friday and firefighters were having a tough time bringing it under control.

Members of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación could not control their joy in announcing yesterday morning that fire was practically out, as the rain cut the life of the fire short, leaving firefighters only the job of putting out the smolderers.

The rain Tuesday night over a great part of the Guanacaste region not only helped with putting out the fire, but also increased the relative humidity, brough down the scorching temperatures and decreased the winds.

"We still do not know if there was loss to wildlife", said Ronald Vargas, director of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, adding that once all the smolders have been put out, their job is to assess the damage caused by the fire.

Vargas estimates that it will take at least 15 days for the evaluation and added that though the regeneration of the forest could take years, the rainy season that is just around the corner will help with the first growths.