MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fire scorches centuries old forests in Tierra del Fuego

A federal state of emergency has been declared in Argentina's extreme south Tierra del Fuego province, where more than 6.000 hectares of centuries-old forest have been scorched or are threatened by several fires, forcing the evacuation of dozens of people, according to an official release.

At least 200 people have been evacuated in the past few days while fire-fighters, emergency services personnel and hundreds of volunteers try to control the fires in the extreme south of Patagonia, a region relatively barren and with protected forests going back centuries. "It's the largest and most impressive forest and grassland fire we've suffered in the last fifty years. 500 hectares of lenga have been completely lost" said Nicolas Lucas, Tierra del Fuego's Sustainable Development and Environment minister, one of the officials coordinating the rescue efforts. "It's complicated because there are multiple outbreaks in a much extended area", added Lucas. An estimated eighty fires have been detected and weather conditions with strong wind gusts have not helped fire fighters. According to still unconfirmed reports the fire which apparently begun in the farm "La Correntina" in the heart of the extreme south province, was "intentional". No officials were prepared to support the reports, yet. Argentine Environment Secretary Homero Bibiloni visited the area over the weekend for a first hand look of the situation and promised more federal aid and equipments, Forestry expert Marcelo Carvajal described the situation as "a major disaster" because fire has scorched forests of the lenga species "which have been around 400 to 500 years". Carvajal said it will take at least 70 years for the new trees to become adults The lenga beech is described as a deciduous tree or shrub native to the centre area of the Andes range in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina down to Tierra del Fuego. It grows to a height of up to 30 meters and a trunk diameter of 1.5 meters. The leaves are 2-4 cm long, with irregularly lobed margin, and turn to yellow and reddish tones in autumn. The fruit is a small nut 4-7 mm long. It can be found in the Torres Del Paine national park, the Tierra del Fuego National Park, the Los Aleroes National Park and the Nahuel Huapi National Park among other places.