Chubut: the forest fire in Los Alerces National Park has already affected 1,400 hectares and Environment will send more brigades

The National Fire Management Service (SNMF), an agency under the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, will send 30 more brigade members to reinforce the fight against the forest fire that affects Los Alerces National Park, in Chubut, which has already reached about 1,400 hectares. The igneous foci began on Saturday in the natural area and then advanced towards the jurisdiction of the province of Chubut, the fire “is still active and demands an intense deployment on the ground,” reported from SNMF. Currently, more than 130 combatants, including 34 belonging to the National Brigade South, 40 brigade members belonging to National Parks, provincial services personnel and volunteer firefighters, are working to control the fire with machinery and aerial means. Today began to operate the air means provided by the National Fire Management Service, including a Chinook -which is a helicopter with a capacity of 10,000 liters-, a hydrant plane, an amphibious aircraft, a helicopter with helibalde and an observer plane. Ariel Amtahuer, director of Forest Firefighting at National Parks, told Telam radio That “the fire, compared to the previous days, is better. You can’t talk about contained sectors because there are sectors with hot spots.” The area affected by the igneous foci comprises a total of 1,400 hectares, of which 350 are within the protected area of Los Alerces National Parks,” said Amtahuer, who is working in the area. In turn, the head of the agency indicated that the development of the fire is being followed by satellites and stressed that “the fire is divided into seven sectors. Meanwhile, sector 1, 2 and 3 are within national jurisdiction, while the rest of the areas correspond to the province of Chubut.” The operation is coordinated by the Government of Chubut in coordination with the Nation, the National Fire Management Service and the PNLA, adding the support of Volunteer Firefighters of Esquel and Trevelin, municipalities of Esquel and Trevelin, Gendarmerie and Army, Police, National and Provincial Roads, among others.

Original source in Spanish