Colombia Declares Public Calamity as Wildfire Burns Toward Villa de Leyva, Nearly 20 Fires Active Nationwide

A colonial tourist town under threat

A wildfire ignited Saturday, September 19 on the Cerro de San Marcos hillside above Villa de Leyva, a colonial-era town about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of Bogotá that draws more than a million tourists a year, according to Agence France-Presse. By Sunday, flames were visible from the town's central square.

Colombia's Disaster Risk Management agency said the fire was roughly 50% under control by Sunday afternoon, according to both AFP and the Associated Press. Local authorities in Villa de Leyva declared a state of public calamity and suspended in-person classes Monday, September 21, carrying out preventive evacuations of hotels near the fire, the AP reported.

There's a genuine discrepancy in how much land has burned. The AP put the figure at about 290 hectares (717 acres) as of Sunday evening. AFP, citing local official José Castro, reported more than 200 hectares burned by Sunday afternoon, which Castro said was four times the area reported that same morning. Both figures come from named sources close to the response, and both describe a fire still growing fast in mountainous terrain complicated by strong winds.

Firefighters, helicopters, and an overwhelmed mayor

Response numbers also vary by source. AFP reported roughly 250 local firefighters and residents fighting the blaze Sunday afternoon, joined by two helicopters from the Boyacá governor's office, two military helicopters, and firefighters from Bogotá. The AP put the broader total, including volunteers and emergency workers, at more than 400, with four helicopters conducting about 170 water drops Sunday that released 240,000 liters (63,400 gallons), according to Boyacá Governor Carlos Amaya.

Colombia's Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara said military helicopters and additional firefighters from Bogotá and Tunja were reinforcing containment efforts, according to reporting aggregated by Ground News from WTOP.

Villa de Leyva's mayor, Nicolás Méndez, told Caracol TV on Sunday evening there were still "many active fire fronts" and that "the resources we have are being overwhelmed," calling for urgent support from national authorities, according to AFP.

Eliana Suárez, a 24-year-old hotel manager, told AFP her staff evacuated about 20 guests as flames advanced along the hillside, later reaching the roofs of some of the property's cabins. "They abandoned us when we needed it most and we are still asking for help and no one listens to us," she said. Separately, travelandtourworld reported one nearby property evacuated 29 people and that several tourism activities in the area have been suspended as a precaution.

The response Colombia's national government says it mobilized includes hundreds of firefighters, four to six helicopters depending on the count, and a president who publicly pledged "all state resources." President Gustavo Petro wrote on X that "Villa de Leyva is not alone" and vowed to protect "its inhabitants, its heritage and its natural wealth," according to AFP.

Deliberately set? Investigation ongoing

Environment Minister Fabio Arjona said on X that preliminary information from the disaster management agency suggested the fire may have been "deliberately set," according to both the Guardian and AFP. No charges, arrests, or completed investigation have been reported. That claim remains an allegation from a government official, not a finding.

Not an isolated fire

Colombia's disaster management agency was tracking 27 forest fires nationwide as of the weekend, with 19 active and eight already under control, the Guardian reported. Nine of the active fires were burning in Tolima, southwest of Bogotá. Colombia's weather agency said 279 municipalities were under some level of wildfire warning, including 36 at the highest red-alert level, concentrated in the Andean and Caribbean regions.

Between June 16 and August 6, Colombia recorded 438 forest fires across 191 municipalities, burning about 7,153 hectares, according to government figures cited by the Guardian. Neighboring Ecuador is dealing with its own wave of fires: its national risk management agency reported 12 active fires Sunday and more than 21,800 hectares burned so far this year, with a fire on the Imbabura volcano's slopes burning about 300 hectares before being brought under control.

Authorities across the region blame an intensified El Niño weather pattern for the drought and high temperatures driving the fire season. The immediate question left unanswered: whether Arjona's suspicion of arson at Villa de Leyva holds up once Colombia's disaster agency completes its review, and whether the reinforcements Bogotá has sent are enough to fully contain a fire that, by AFP's count, quadrupled in size within a single day.