The World - News from July 31, 1989

Devastating forest fires that have raged for five months in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and for a time threatened to reach the resort of Cancun have been mostly brought under control, a government spokesman said. Recent torrential rains have helped to contain the fires, which have destroyed more than 370,000 acres of forest, an official from the state of Quintana Roo said. More than 3,600 troops and volunteers have been battling the fires for more than a month. At one point, the flames came within four miles of Cancun airport and 12 miles from the Caribbean resort.