Civil Defense chief says forest fires 'premeditated'

Daily Star staff Friday, August 08, 2008 BEIRUT: Civil Defense Director Darwish Hobeika said on Thursday that the series of forest fires afflicting Lebanon's countryside was "premeditated." Hobeika said the blazes "break out at night," although typically forest fires begin during the intense heat and sunshine of the daytime. Countries much larger than Lebanon often have difficulty battling "simultaneous" fires raging in various places. "We had fires in Aley, Bshamoun, Qartaba and Bishmizzine," he said. "What is significant is that all these fires broke out at night." Forest rangers "cannot cover all the areas because whoever starts fires does not need anything more than a small bottle of gasoline and a few seconds to set a forest on fire," he added. The Civil Defense directorate has 200 outposts, each manned by four to five... [read full story]