The
fire
in the area of the Centinela stream, near Rosales Bay of Lake Futalafquen in the
Los Alerces National Park,
in
Chubut
,
continued to be active "out of control"
this Saturday and extended to reach an area of 577 hectares.
This was confirmed to
Télam
by the head of the Fire, Communications and Emergencies (ICE) department of the National Park, Mario Cárdenas.
Meanwhile, brigade members and personnel from the provincial Fire Management Service struggled to control the flames and protect nearby populations in
Esquel
and
Trevelin.
"The fire spread to an area of 577 hectares and
the head of the fire left the Park's jurisdiction
and entered the province," Cárdenas added.
"The fire is out of control," said Cárdenas, who specified that the weather conditions
"are adverse because we continue to have a lot of wind and high temperatures, which makes our tasks quite difficult"
in the National Park, declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. in 2017.
The fire started on Thursday night, with two fires very close to each other.
The spread of the fire caused both to join, becoming a single fire that went from affecting 65 hectares of native forest to 577 hectares and
continues to expand.
Forest brigades from Chubut and Volunteer Firefighters from Trevelin and Esquel, together with the National Fire Management Service (SNMF), fight to control a forest fire in Los Alerces National Park.
Photo: Telam
"They are reinforcing and putting a lot of work into the right flank of the fire because that is where, if it came down from the mountain towards the route,
there are homes, towns
," said the head of ICE about the fire, which consumed native forest and He burned species such as ñire, laura, cohiue cane and lenga.
According to the Park's Instagram account, during the day on Friday, personnel from the Provincial Fire Management Service based in the town of Golondrinas joined the work of fighting the fire.
Personnel from National Parks, Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service, National Fire Management Service, Volunteer Firefighters, Gendarmerie, Prefecture, Esquel Civil Defense are also working in the operation.
During the night of Friday, it was reported that
a drone flew over the fire to evaluate the behavior of the fire.
Forest brigades from Chubut and Volunteer Firefighters from Trevelin and Esquel, together with the National Fire Management Service (SNMF), fight to control a forest fire in Los Alerces National Park.
Photo: Telam
In turn, Park staff explained that "the fire crews from the towns of Esquel and Trevelin are present protecting the towns near the fire."
Likewise, it is remembered to take
"maximum caution when traveling Route 71"
and it was reported that the internal roads of Cerro La Torta, El Dedal, Alto El Petiso, Cocinero, Quebrada del León and La Balsa are located.
It is also remembered that it is prohibited to light fires in free-use areas, to remain attentive to the indications within the Protected Area and to recommend choosing another day to visit the Park.
They issued an orange alert for heat in the area
The National Meteorological Service issued a series of heat alerts for
much of Buenos Aires and seven other provinces.
The
orange alert
also affects a part of Mendoza, the north of Neuquén, north of Río Negro and Chubut, where the Los Alerces National Park is located.
The rest of the province of
Buenos Aires,
like
San Juan, Mendoza, most of La Pampa, San Luis, Río Negro and Chubut,
will register high temperatures for which the SMN issued a
yellow alert
, referring to the fact that This is heat that can be dangerous "for risk groups, such as children, people over 65 years of age or people with chronic illnesses."
The
highest temperatures in the country
in the next few hours will be recorded in the area that connects
the northeast of Neuquén, northwest of Río Negro and west of La Pampa.
These areas will be exposed to "very dangerous" temperatures that, according to the same SMN red alert, "can affect all people, even healthy ones."
News in development