Fire consumes 200 hectares of native forest in northwestern Argentina

A wildfire that ignited two weeks ago has ravaged about 200 hectares of native forest in the northwestern Argentine province of Salta. Firefighters are currently battling to bring the flames under control, according to official sources.

The fire, located near the city of Cafayate, remained active as of Sunday, June 21. It initially started on June 7 and was contained by brigadistas on June 13, but flared up again just days later. The Salta judiciary has opened an investigation, suspecting the fire's origin may be intentional.

Teams combating the blaze include personnel from Salta's Civil Defense, Cafayate firefighters, the National Fire Management Service, and provincial police. Two water-dropping aircraft, trucks, and water tankers are involved in the operation. However, strong winds in the area are complicating firefighting efforts.

Ignacio Vílchez, the deputy secretary of Civil Defense for Salta, described the fire's characteristics, noting the presence of numerous underground hotspots and critical sectors. He explained that the extensive root systems and fallen trees make control difficult. The affected area was entirely native forest, primarily consisting of algarrobo trees, which are very long-lived and slow-growing species. Vílchez lamented the total loss of these valuable trees.

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The characteristic of this fire is that we have many underground foci, which makes control difficult. There is a lot of root system and many fallen trees. The entire area of the fire was over native forest, especially algarrobo, a very long-lived and slow-growing species. It was a total loss and it is lamentable.