Southern Argentina on alert due to forest fires forcing the evacuation of over 200 people

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite the rains that fell in the province of Chubut, in southern Argentina, forest fires that are consuming houses and a total of 2,600 hectares of trans-Andean Patagonia continue unabated.

In the towns of Cholila, El Maitén, Lago Puelo and Las Golondrinas, fires remain uncontrolled and have forced the evacuation of some 200 people, leaving many injured and 10 people reported missing.

“I am going to file a criminal complaint because this is an intentional fire,” said the Minister of Environment, Juan Cabandié, at a press conference.

“There are 15 people missing, because the fire broke out all at once and affected more than 100 houses,” added the Secretary of State.

Some 200 people were evacuated from Lago Puelo, with “a provisional balance of 7 injured, one of them seriously,” according to a municipal report.

In El Hoyo “rains were so intense that they put out the fire, although embers remained under the ash layer and that is why we are keeping watch,” said Alejandro Otero, spokesperson for the municipality.

“This fire broke out in the forest and there are extreme conditions for it to spread,” the mayor of Lago Puelo, Augusto Sanchez, told the press.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Carlos Díaz Mayer, in charge of investigating the fires, told the press that he would not rush to speak of arson until he had all the required information. “We are investigating it, but we are not sure of intent,” he said.

“I am not looking for intent, first I need to know what happened and then determine if it was intentional. I am not investigating a group setting fires,” he added.

The federal government sent a Hercules plane with 40 firefighters to join the 60 already in operation with helicopters and trucks.

Last year, the fire devastated tens of thousands of hectares in Argentina. A total of 95% of fires were intentional.

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