LA PAZ, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Forest fires are raging in three of Bolivia's nine departments, mostly sparked by field burning to prepare farmland for planting, Deputy Civil Defense Minister Juan Carlos Calvimontes said on Friday.
The fires have damaged thousands of hectares of forests, crops and pastures, with the departments of Beni (northeast), La Paz (west) and Santa Cruz (east) the hardest-hit, he told reporters.
