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.