Brush fires broke out across Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, on Sunday, sending thick plumes of smoke across the area and alarming residents from Bucerías to Sayulita.

Late Sunday night, Bahía de Banderas Mayor Héctor Santana issued a statement saying that fires in Lago Real and Bucerías had been extinguished. However, he noted that emergency crews were still working to fully control hot spots in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, particularly in the area bordering the hotel zone.

The first reports came from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, where residents noticed smoke rising from the hills above town late Sunday morning.

Witnesses initially described the fire as small, burning through dry brush on the hillside above the town’s hotel zone. But residents say the blaze spread quickly as the day progressed, fuelled by dry vegetation on the slopes.

By Sunday evening, dramatic images and videos circulating on social media showed lines of fire stretching across the mountains above the bay, in Bucerías, Sayulita, Valle de Banderas and near the Lago Real residential development in Mezcales.

In Bucerías, flames were reported in the hills behind the Paraíso del Indio and Javier Ovando neighbourhoods. Witnesses described large sections of the mountainside engulfed in flames Sunday night as the fire spread across the dry hillside overlooking the town.

La tarde de este domingo se registró un incendio forestal en un cerro cercano a La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, en Bahía de Banderas.
Las columnas de humo fueron visibles incluso desde Puerto Vallarta.

Autoridades informan que el fuego ya se encuentra controlado en un 80%. pic.twitter.com/YYsDD1q0Hi

— Tribuna de la Bahía (@tribuna_bahia) March 16, 2026

As the scale of the situation became clearer, multiple emergency agencies joined the response.

Civil Protection and municipal fire crews worked alongside state personnel in Nayarit, while members of the Mexican Army and Navy were deployed to assist in containing the fires and preventing them from reaching populated areas.

Mayor Santana also said that response teams had been sent to San Pancho to evaluate potential risks and prevent additional fires from spreading in the region.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fires. Anecdotal reports suggest that some may have been sparked by the burning of brush or logs, a common practice in rural areas that can become dangerous during the dry season if fires spread beyond their intended boundaries.

Locals lament slow response time of authorities

Some residents claim municipal authorities failed to respond promptly, saying firefighters were not dispatched for several hours after the first calls for help. By the time crews arrived, they stated, the fire had already expanded significantly.

Reports also alleged that municipal firefighters lacked specialized equipment needed to combat brush fires in steep terrain, which may have contributed to the blaze spreading through the dry vegetation.

Some residents are calling for a closer review of emergency response procedures, including faster deployment of firefighting teams and improved equipment for battling wildfires in the region’s mountainous terrain.

Wildfires are most frequent in the dry months of March, April and May in Mexico. According to the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), more than 1,200 fires have been reported so far in 2026, and in 2025, approximately 70% were caused by human activities.

Mexico News Daily