Brazil Deploys Military to Battle Sao Paulo Wildfires

Brazil has deployed military aircraft to combat raging wildfires in the densely populated state of Sao Paulo, where authorities suspect arsonists are responsible for the blazes. Following a crisis meeting, President Lula da Silva and Environment Minister Marina Silva announced a "war against the fire" as emergency measures were put in place and federal police began investigations into the "atypical situation".

Brazil was deploying military aircraft as part of a "war" against wildfires ravaging the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, with authorities warning that arsonists were setting blazes.

Fires have put dozens of cities in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state under alert consuming farming fields and cloaking cities under smoke, drone footage showed.

In Dumond, one local farmer said he couldn't do anything to save his crops, the fire was too strong.

17 cities had been facing active wildfires. In total, the local government monitored 36 cities that were under maximum alert due to drought and a heat wave hitting the state, the Civil Defense of Sao Paulo said.

Tarcisio de Freitas, the governor of Sao Paulo, by far the country's most populous state with some 44 million residents, decreed a state of emergency in 45 municipalities and said two people suspected of starting fires had been arrested.

Two factory workers died in Urupes, in the northern part of the state, while fighting a fire, officials said.

For now, the government has not reported flames directly reaching the city of Sao Paulo, Latin America's largest by population with more than 11 million residents.

According to local media, São Paulo registered 4,973 fire hotspots from January to August 23, marking a record high since reports began.