The out-of-control forest fire started in a protected area of Los Alerces National Park and spread to Chubut province. Therefore, a unified command was established to stop the fire from progressing.
Los Alerces National Park in Chubut Province has been burning for several days and despite authorities’ efforts to bring the forest fire under control, the fire has not subsided and has burned almost 1,000 hectares of the reserve. In this sense, they claimed that the situation “out of control“.
The fire occurred on Thursday night. According to the National Environment Secretariat at the time, the fire spread due to the activity of two fire sources located close to each other. However, as the days passed, the extent of the fire increased.
Last Saturday evening, the authorities of the Los Alerces National Park published a report on the current situation in which they assured that the fire was “active” and announced that it was out of control and had already affected an area estimated at 579 hectares
Los Alerces National Park and beyond
“The fire affects two jurisdictions (National Parks and Chubut Province). In addition to the work planned this morning, the use of road machines was added“reads the press release.
On Sunday the Joint CommandThere were also 87 combat aircraft, 2 firefighting aircraft, 2 cargo helicopters and 1 surveillance aircraft” and also “additional staff“ from the SNMF.
On Saturday, the Director of Fire, Communications and Emergency Management (ICE), Mario Cárdenas, told the Télam agency: “The arsonist has left the park’s jurisdiction and entered the province, where he is spiraling out of control“. Given this alarming situation, the authorities decided to set up a unified command to coordinate the teams working tirelessly to extinguish the fire.
“It will take a long time, many days“said Cárdenas, making sure that”The fire is still active” And “out of control“.
Although there are no details yet on the extent of the damage, it is known that several species that make up the native forest were affected, such as ñire, Laura, Coihue Cane and Lenga.
Flights are carried out to detect damage and also to analyze fire behavior. National parks, the Chubut Provincial Fire Protection Service, the National Fire Protection Service (SNMF), volunteer firefighters, the gendarmerie, the prefecture and the civil defense delegation of Esquel are working together in the operation.
These teams have a pumping station, two helicopters, fifteen trucks, a tanker, two road vehicles, two firefighting aircraft, a weather station, four drones, 16 firefighters and 26 SNMF brigades working on site.
In addition to this dramatic situation, the weather conditions were not optimal with strong winds and high temperatures, “which makes the missions quite difficult” said Cardenas.
Regarding the progress of the fire, the official said: “During the night the fire continued at an extreme speed and advanced towards La Torta hill.”. It should be noted that the operation of the volunteer firefighters from Esquel and Trevelin was successful as no damage was caused to any house.
In this context, the park ranger of Los Alerces National Park, Danilo Hernández Otaño, explained that the fire broke out in an uninhabited area of the primary forest.
“Although campers at the campground on the shores of Futalaufquen Lake see the fire, there is no danger to visitors and travelers along Provincial Route 71.“, he clarified.
In parallel, eight more brigade members from the nation were mobilized on Saturday to set up a defensive line in the fire area, then joined by another 42 who focused their efforts on the Las Golondrinas area.
The SNMF said that in the event that greater cooperation between the aircraft is desired, another helicopter will be made available as it got out of control.
To prevent new outbreaks, authorities have ordered strict firefighting measures in the protected area and warned that if fires are discovered, ICE (2945-548822) should be called.
They also reiterated the ban on lighting bonfires in open areas, recommended extreme caution when driving on Highway 71 and pointed out that the interior roads Cerro La Torta, El Dedal, Alto El Petiso, Cocinero, Quebrada del León and La Balsa.
last part
The command in charge of fighting the fires in Los Alerces National Park, which have burned more than 1,000 hectares – mostly native species – decided on Monday to divide the affected area into six zones, as this area awaits the deployment of the new ones Brigade to be expanded is to arrive.
Members of the organization will join firefighting teams in the northern province of Chubut.
According to the latest report, 47 combatants in Sectors 1 and 2, the 47 and 27 brigade members respectively, will continue work with hand tools and water equipment.
They added that ““It is expected that 46 brigade members of the Córdoba Provincial Plan will arrive in the area in the next few hours.” And “approximately 250 brigade members from various jurisdictions“, who will work on site on Wednesday.
The Intent of Fire
According to the mayor of Los Alerces National Park, Danilo Hernández Otaño, the fire that broke out last Thursday was “This is intentional and has been practiced in all seasons since 2015“.
While the Undersecretary of Civil Protection and Risk Management of Chubut, Eduardo Pérez, mentioned: “It would be a great help if it rained so that the fire, which is very active, could lose intensity, because experience shows that it is very difficult to fight a fire with these characteristics if nature does not intervene.“.
In return, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni, for whom the fire in Los Alerces National Park “If there are investigations that suggest intent, those responsible must be behind bars or, if necessary, extradited“.
With information from: