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Colombian officials suspect criminal groups are deliberately starting Tolima forest fires

The governor of Tolima province suggested armed groups might be using the blazes to distract law enforcement from illegal gold mining operations.

Updated Aug 25, 2026 · 18:49 UTC2 reports

The short version

  • Officials in Colombia suspect that criminal organizations are intentionally setting some of the forest fires that have burned nearly 30,000 hectares in Tolima province.
  • The fires have destroyed 50 homes and roughly 8,000 hectares of agricultural land, threatening the region with a severe economic crisis.
  • President Abelardo de la Espriella has launched a law enforcement investigation and requested international firefighting assistance from the United States and Chile.

Key facts

  • Tolima Governor Adriana Matiz stated there are "serious clues" pointing to arson, including citizen-recorded videos of men on motorcycles starting fires and a fire department report indicating the use of gasoline.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Matiz filed a formal complaint regarding the suspected arson with Colombia's attorney general.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • The fires in Tolima have destroyed 50 homes and nearly 8,000 hectares of farmland, though no deaths have been reported.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • According to environmental agency Cortolima, temperatures in the province have reached over 2 degrees Celsius above average this month, and rainfall is 30% below normal.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Forest fires have also impacted several other Colombian provinces this month, including Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, and Boyacá.[Associated Press · ABC News]

What remains uncertain

  • It remains unverified exactly which armed groups are responsible or how many of the active fires were deliberately set versus naturally occurring.[Associated Press · ABC News]

Sources