Fire in Argentina
Thursday, 05 January 2017
Type of Event:
Location of Event:
Date of Charter Activation:
5 January 2017
Time of Charter Activation:
Time zone of Charter Activation:
SIFEM - Secretaría Nacional de Protección Civil de Argentina
Description of the event
In a little over 2 weeks 1 million hectares have been consumed by wildfires in Argentina. The most affected areas include Buenos Aires, the central province of Pampa and the southern province of Rio Negro.
Rash wildfires began in late December 2016 and have spread across rural landscapes creating huge smoke plumes. The fires are thought to have been started by thunderstorms following a period of drought in the summer.
It is estimated that there are currently around 10 or more fires which are still continuing to burn and billow out huge amounts of smoke. There are also concerns that the fires may have lead to the death of approximately 80% of wild animals in La Pampa.
Wildfires in these rural areas are not uncommon, and Argentina's National Fire Management service are monitoring the fire and assessing the total size of the affected area.