Mexico City drought causes rainwater catchment basin to catch fire and burn for a day | KLRT [Video]

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City’s drought and water shortage is so bad that one of the capital’s rainwater catchment basins caught fire Tuesday, scorching 75 acres (30 hectares) of dried-up vegetation.

The Mexico City fire department said in a statement that the fire had been brought under control by late afternoon, although photos distributed by the department showed a haze of smoke still blanketing the low-lying basin.

The El Cristo basin was hit by a fire that began late Monday on the city’s northwest side. The basins are meant to hold excess water from storm drains.

Because the city is located in a high mountain valley with no natural outlet, sudden rushes of rainwater tend to overwhelm the man-made drains; the catchment basins act as a buffer.

Normally, they are so green from previous rains that residents sometimes used them in the past as impromptu soccer fields or for …