The Brazilian government reportedly failed to respond accordingly after warnings from federal prosecutors and local environmentalists were submitted to Brazil's environment agency Ibama regarding several planned Amazon fires on August 10 somewhere around Novo Progresso.
According to The Guardian, the group of prosecutors and environmental officials discovered that land-grabbers and farmers were planning to carry out fires in parts of Novo Progresso's Amazonian forests. They sent a warning to the administration but no action was made to stop the fires.
Furthermore, the federal prosecutors said a local news site, the Folha do Progresso, reported on the purported plans to start fires. The report was allegedly released on August 5.
As part of the efforts in pressuring Bolsonaro to act further as fire volumes increased for this year's dry season, the Amazonian state of Para's prosecutors kicked off a probe into the warning sent to the government.
Ibama is now being accused of failing to respond to the warnings. When protests kicked off due to the spreading fires two days later, Ibama said its operations to act on the Amazon fires in the region were blocked.
The agency further stated that police support was reportedly withdrawn, further risking the safety of its responding staff in a town where threats have long been haunting Ibama due to the Amazon fires.
An environment official who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that he was aware of requests for support and an efficient emergency plan to manage the Amazon fires. However, the requests were not answered.
Bolsonaro's administration is faced with increasing criticism from global leaders. Over the weekend, the Group of 7 (G-7) member countries agreed to provide financial and technical support to the work being done for the Amazonian forests.
Under the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron, G-7 leaders agreed to release $22 million for the fire-stoppage project. Macron confirmed that funds will be released "immediately" and support for the military will arrive "within the next few hours."
Bolsonaro has been publicly slamming Macron for his involvement in the issue. The Brazilian leader accused his French counterpart of having different intentions in the intervention.
Brazil started dumping gallons of water into the spreading Amazon fires over the weekend. Some environmentalists said the government was only acting in response to criticism from around the world, specifically G-7 member nations.
The country's environment ministry has yet to respond to queries regarding the alleged failure to act promptly to coordinated Amazon fire warnings. Bolsonaro and his administration have been refuting claims about the fires, stating that some reports were exaggerating the numbers.
