More than 80 brigadistas and firefighters, with the support of 2 planes, 8 helicopters and hydrant trucks, fight the forest fires that have been raging for more than 20 days in the area of the Nahuel Huapi National Park, in Bariloche, and that after “complex days” now expect more favorable weather conditions, national and provincial authorities reported today. To fight the fires, given their complexity, the forest fire teams of the national system and the national parks work in an articulated way, together with the Forest Fire Prevention and Fight Service (Splif) of Río Negro and more than 10 firefighters who come from different parts of this province.” There is a very strong team of brigadistas on the ground, with 89 men from the National State and the Splif team, which has a lot of experience and knows the terrain,” the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation, Juan Cabandié, told Telam.
“There were days when it was not possible to work (in an aerial way) basically because of the difficulty of accessing due to the winds and permanent clouds, but every time there was a window of possibility of making water shots it was done,” explained the official, clearing the doubts in the absence of aerial means during certain days. The priority is to “preserve the lives of the people who perform this task” in helicopters and airplanes, he said. However, the minister stressed that “the brigadistas were always present” in the territory and clarified that although the air means “are a very important complement”, if there are not “men and women brigadistas who are fighting the fire it is impossible, an airplane does not turn it off”. Although the last few days were marked by extremely “complex” weather conditions that made the work difficult, for the next few hours rainfall is expected in the area that could be “a respite” for the teams to continue working.
“In principle, the weather conditions are encouraging,” he said in a dialogue with Télam Radio Betiana Minor, Minister of Security and Justice of Río Negro.
“The important thing is that we have the entry of a very cold front that will persist until the weekend with the probability of rainfall that until now is sustained,” he said and assured that “that would give the ideal conditions to be able to work and advance on the fight against the fire.” Likewise, the official warned that “they are complex conditions and we cannot venture, but we do have a window with meteorological conditions that would be very favorable for the attack of the fire.” For his part, Victoriano Curuhual, of the Fire Directorate of National Parks, said “it is a day to day because conditions change a lot.” “The tasks became more complex as there was a lot of rockfall and falling trees,” he said.
Horacio Paradela, mayor of the Nahuel Huapi National Park, agreed that this is a “very complex fire” because it occurs in a “sector of very steep slopes with a lot of forest load.” Fires are part of nature and environmental processes, and have to do with the turnover in forests. But when they advance to populated sectors is when we have all the resources to defend those areas,” said Paradela, who estimated that 3,500 hectares are already affected. Regarding possible evacuations of nearby towns, local authorities assured that “everything is ready” and that “if necessary we will do it,” but that “for now it was not necessary.” We are all the authorities here present to give support (to the neighbors),” said Minister Minor, who highlighted the work of “the forest fire teams” that were dedicated to the defense of the surrounding homes through preventive measures.
