A large fire broke out this afternoon in the forests of the town of Ain Jurfa - Hasbaya district, and destroyed large areas of trees and dry grasses, amid fears that it would spread to agricultural lands and neighboring residential areas. Civil defense teams, with the support of a number of volunteers and residents, continue their efforts to extinguish the fire, as the fire expands and is difficult to control due to the nature of the area and the winds. The townspeople launched urgent appeals to the concerned authorities for rapid intervention, and the mayor of Ain Jarfa appealed to the army commander for urgent intervention and support with army helicopters to help extinguish the large fire that broke out in the town’s forests. He warned that the continuation of the fire threatened to spread to neighboring villages, in addition to agricultural lands and residential areas, calling on all concerned parties to take immediate action to prevent an environmental and humanitarian disaster. Later, the National News Agency reported that “the mayor of Ain Jarfa was admitted to the hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation while monitoring the fire that broke out in the town’s forests and accompanying the firefighting operations.”