Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the crisis
Forest fires raged in north and north-east of Algeria overnight on Monday 9 August 2021, and throughout Tuesday 16 August 2021, killing at least 90 people including 33 members of the People's National Army deployed as firefighters, rescuing over 100 people in Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou1. The governorates of Tizi-Ouzou, Bouira, Sétif, Khenchela, Guelma,
Bejaia, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdes, Tiaret, Medea, Tebessa, Annaba, Souk Ahras, Ain Defla, Jijel, Batna, Blida and Skikda were later affected by the fires. The temperature in the areas affected by the fires reached 49 - 50 degrees Celsius in the affected governorates, which are already suffering from severe water shortages. The Algerian Government mobilized the People’s National Army, dispatched fire engines, and mobilized more than 900 firefighters to put out the fires and protect people and property. On 15 September 2021, several fires broke out in the evening in the mountainous region of Beni Amrane and spread to the neighboring town of Tidjelabine (east of the province of Boumerdes). Seven localized forest fires were also erupted and dealt with by the respective local responders during the month of October.
Summary of response
Since the onset of the disaster, the Algerian Red Crescent (ARC) activated its response protocol including establishing a crisis cell. To support the affected families, ARC mobilized 30 psychosocial teams, 12 medical personnel, and 300 volunteers to date.
ARC, in coordination with the Civil Protection Authority, set up 200 tents from their stock to accommodate the most affected households and distributed 340 tons of food, Essential Household Items (EHI), and COVID-19 personal protection equipment (PPE). In addition, private donors supported the crisis response by availing an additional 20 ambulance cars to be managed by ARC in the affected areas. ARC conducted field assessments and published a preliminary report on the IFRC GO Platform.
On 11 August the IFRC launched a DREF for CHF 265,510 to support ARC in this emergency phase, providing shelter, food and essential household items, First Aid, and psychosocial support to 5,000 households (25,000 people) in 18 governorates for four months. Based on the information received from the governorates and the needs assessment conducted, both short-term and mid-term recovery are needed by the affected populations. There are dire health needs including medications for people living with chronic diseases, and health services related to exposure to wildfires, such as burns, respiratory complications due to inhalation of smoke, and eye irritation. Another emergent need was psycho-social support. The loss and damage rate of these fires had a severe impact on the mental health of the people affected, but also of the entire communities where the fire occurred. ARC has supported in coordination with local authorities and Civil Defense, the preparation of emergency shelters for 8,500 families via shelter centers.
This emergency response operation has allowed the ARC to utilize its recently enhanced disaster response mechanism, with its pre-positioning stocks and the capacity to mobilize local resources from the public.
It is important to note that only 7% (equivalent to 322,946 CHF) of the total required amount (4,336,000 CHF) outlined in the appeal was successfully raised. This affected the ability of the ARC to complete the planned activities and reach all the targeted people, which explains the low achievements in most of the sectors below.