Colombia fire director Germán Miranda lost his post on Saturday 3 October, only 26 days after taking office, when President Abelardo de la Espriella requested his removal on X. Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara confirmed the decision minutes later. Municipal and volunteer brigades still handled daily firefighting, while the national directorate coordinated their work and routed national support.
De la Espriella said he had learned of facts “of the utmost gravity” but didn’t specify the allegations. Lara pointed to signs of an alleged attempt to keep evidence from reaching the Fiscalía, the Attorney General’s Office that brings criminal cases. Officials haven’t said what evidence the minister meant.
The appointment—and the exit
De la Espriella said “the mere suspicion of irregular conduct” would be enough to demand an official’s exit. “There will be no leniency,” he added, toward conduct that compromises transparency, La República reported. According to Infobae, Lara said Miranda had been “declared insubsistente on the spot.”
That declaration cancels a discretionary appointment and doesn’t require a disciplinary ruling first. The president and interior minister thus controlled the immediate decision over the director’s post, even as the allegations remained unresolved in the available reporting. No interim head had been named by Saturday afternoon.
El Tiempo, Semana and La FM published excerpts of recordings in which Miranda allegedly discussed a prosecution involving Bernardo Morales, the Envigado fire commander near Medellín. Citing El Tiempo, Infobae reported that Miranda allegedly sought money in exchange for steps before prosecutors. La FM noted that the excerpts alone don’t prove obstruction, and the recordings hadn’t been authenticated when they were published.
The allegations remain allegations
Infobae, La Opinión and Diario La Libertad also reported an audit case at the Contraloría, the Comptroller General’s Office. The alleged loss was initially put at COP 115 million, or about US$35,000 at the 2 October closing rate of 3,312 pesos per dollar. Diario La Libertad said the case concerns a contract between the directorate and a network of higher education institutions.
The case has produced no finding. In August, Miranda rejected it as persecution, Semana reported. La Opinión and Infobae also reported that the directorate’s administrative staff had questioned whether he met degree and experience requirements; that opinion became public when he was appointed.
Miranda had previously led the directorate under President Juan Manuel Santos, whose term is given as 2010–2018. El País and La República reported that he had more than 20 years in the national fire system. He hadn’t responded publicly in the coverage reviewed, and it remained unclear whether the Fiscalía would open an inquiry into his removal on these grounds.
Frontline crews, shifting leadership
When Lara swore Miranda in on 7 September, crews were fighting 21 active fires across Tolima, Cauca, Vichada, Norte de Santander, Valle del Cauca and Nariño, El País of Cali reported. Large burns had hit Tolima in August and the hills above Villa de Leyva in Boyacá in September. The brigades handle the daily work; the directorate coordinates them and routes national support.
This wasn’t the first abrupt departure at the top. Asuntos Legales reported that on 8 April 2025, then-president Gustavo Petro declared director Lourdes Peña del Valle insubsistente over contracting concerns. Now the office has no named interim head. Fire response still rests day to day with municipal and volunteer crews, while reports have yet to prove the allegations against Miranda. The power to cancel his appointment, however, was immediate.