Fires raze woodland area in Argentina

Firefighters combated on Tuesday a big fire that broke out in the woodland of Argentina's Rio Negro province. The wildfire has injured at least one person and caused the eviction of several others. The flames have destroyed more than 6,000 hectares in the surroundings of the touristy town close to  Patagonia and the border with Chile. The Rio Negro authorities said the fire broke out on Sunday for unknown reasons and is fought by several dozen fire brigade members.

One of the firefighters suffered minor injuries. The affected area is mountainous and has some valleys, which makes it difficult to extinguish the fire. A number of Argentine provinces suffered fires in 2020. Córdoba, in central Argentina, was the worst affected with some 331,000 hectares burned, in a year when more than a million hectares were destroyed. The Argentine National Meteorological Service indicated that the South American country experienced an extensive and prolonged drought last year that affected more than half of the territory. The lack of rain made 2020 the driest year since 1995.