Local volunteer firefighters quickly extinguished a spreading fire on Wednesday at the El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden on the western edge of San Miguel, but not before the flames scared onlookers.

San Miguel resident Barbara Pardue, who lives just a few minutes’ walk from El Charco, posted photos and videos of the fire on Facebook.

Birds flying out through smoke

“Thanks, bomberos [firemen]!!!” Pardue wrote. “They acted fast and had it under control in an hour.” 

She saw birds flying out of the area through the smoke, she said.

Ben Webster, a visitor from the United Kingdom who was exploring El Charco that day, said the fire started in the west and spread very quickly into the gardens due to a strong breeze. 

Webster said it reached the area around “The Starship” sculpture in the northern reserve.

“I spoke to a member of staff, who told me the gardens had been previously affected by minor fires, but nothing this bad,” Webster said. “To see lovely, tranquil, bird- and butterfly-filled paths which I had wandered only minutes before go up in flames was a chastening experience.”

Concerns about the area’s ecosystem

The fire, while quickly extinguished, comes amid existing concerns about threats to the area’s ecosystem. No official cause of the fire has been given.

Four hectares of El Charco’s total of 67 hectares were burned about a year ago. Managers of the botanical garden have also warned that nearby construction of buildings or sports activities areas may disturb the integrity of the location’s ecosystem.

Managers have also noted that the adjacent Parque Landeta, a 35-hectare area on both sides of the park’s reservoir, was loaned to the nature reserve by the municipality and has been developed as a natural park. However, the loan agreement ended in 2008, and Parque Landeta is now under city management.

According to El Charco’s website, the nature reserve has been a federally protected natural area since 2014. In 2023, a new plant in the pineapple family was discovered there, Viridantha minuscula, by biologist José Viccon, a professor at Mexico City’s Autonomous Metropolitan University. 

Members of the public are being asked to support the fire crews (bomberos) by donating bottled water, electrolyte/hydration drinks, energy bars and chocolate to the Central Fire Station at Arcos de San Miguel, +52 415 180 7211.

Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.