Overview
- Authorities reported three new, nearly simultaneous fire starts in the park’s southern sector that APN and AFE specialists assessed as intentional based on location and timing.
- Park officials filed a criminal complaint in the Esquel federal court, which called in Policía Federal forensic experts and ordered tighter controls at entrances, rural roads and waterways.
- A unified command with national and provincial agencies deployed over 100 firefighters, three air tankers, two amphibious aircraft and two helicopters, plus heavy machinery and boats to cut firebreaks.
- The La Tapera fire remains active near the Futaleufú area, while the December lightning-caused Puerto Café fire is contained, with no structures reported damaged and a preventive evacuation in Toro.
- High temperatures and strong winds have constrained aerial operations, and satellite-based estimates put burned area near 40,000 hectares, raising risks for fragile Patagonian forests and regional tourism.