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Playa del Carmen residents wake to thick smoke from nearby forest fires

Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Fires northwest of Playa del Carmen created enough smoke to choke out several communities Friday morning. Neighbors from areas in the western section of the city captured the heavy drifting smoke as it scented the city’s morning air.

Although Conafor had not previously registered the smoky brush fires, area residents were aware of them. Another unattended to fire was reported by the Lázaro Cárdenas Taxi Drivers Union. By mid-day, a majority of the smoke had disappeared.

Playa del Carmen meteorologist Antonio Morales explained that overnight, the north-northeast winds were exchanged for a high pressure system “that is bringing us winds that bring smoke from the forest fires that are located north of Quintana Roo and north of the Yucatan Peninsula.”

The state coordination of Civil Protection reported that as of Thursday, three forest fires were registered, one in the municipality of Puerto Morelos that is approximately 90 hectares, a second 20-hectare fire in the Tulum National Park and the third, a 40-hectare fire in the municipality of Isla Mujeres.