Tumbaco Enters Dry Season With Waste Burns Still the Main Fire Risk

Tumbaco is heading into dry season with one very specific concern: open-air waste burning.

Residents in Tola Chica 3, part of the Tumbaco parish, are still marked by fire emergencies between 2023 and 2025. Neighbors described smoke over homes, evacuations, affected animals and fear that flames could reach crops and houses.

What Has Changed

Residents say they are now watering land, cleaning dry brush and branches, watching collectively and coordinating directly with the Quito Fire Department. Firefighters have also trained communities including Tola Chica, Tola Grande, El Arenal and Pifo.

The Fire Department activated its Juntos contra el Fuego strategy in May, including permanent monitoring, preventive patrols, drones, vegetation cleaning and seasonal forest firefighters in strategic valley points.

The Fire Numbers

In Tumbaco, forest fires have declined, but waste burning has not disappeared. The Fire Department data cited in the article show:

• 2022: 15 forest fires and 48 waste burns

• 2023: 17 forest fires and 45 waste burns

• 2024: 9 forest fires and 64 garbage burns

• 2025: 0 forest fires in urban Tumbaco, but 73 waste burns

• 2026 so far: 19 events related to waste burning

What This Means for Expats

For people living in Tumbaco, Cumbaya, Puembo or nearby valley areas, the practical issue is neighborhood behavior. A small burn can become a larger fire when dry vegetation and seasonal winds line up.

If you see smoke near homes, quebradas or dry brush, call ECU 911. Firefighters and residents are already treating early smoke reports as something to move on quickly, not something to wait out.