Firefighters lack equipment in RP

Firefighters lack equipment in RP

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (Reuters): The Philippines battled yesterday to control forest fires with machetes and shovels, and officials said they expected more outbreaks with the onset of summer.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has appealed to the United States and Canada for fire-fighting equipment, including aircraft capable of dousing flames from the air, and Filipino diplomats said they expected to hear from the nations soon.

Two children have died and about 20,000 hectares of agricultural and forestry land have been scorched since the fires broke out on Palawan island in the southwest of the country two weeks ago, Governor Salvador Socrates said.

Officials said hundreds of army reservists and tribesmen in half a dozen affected mountain towns were fighting to control the fires but were having difficulty containing the blaze because they had only primitive tools.