MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Eleven people arrested in Argentine province of Córdoba for starting wildfires

Quinteros stressed that 99% of the fires were man-caused

At least 11 people have been arrested in the Argentine province of Córdoba for their alleged involvement in starting the current which elicited President Javier Milei's presence late Wednesday. Córdoba Security Minister Juan Pablo Quinteros has already admitted that “fires, in 99% of the cases, are started by human hands.”

“It is absolutely insane and inexplicable that someone would go and intentionally set fire,” he added about a suspect caught in flagranti delicto in the Calamuchita area shortly before Milei's arrival. He also explained that residents had captured the man and later handed him over to authorities. In the process, the arsonist admitted that he had been “sent” to start the fires. Authorities are lab examining his cell phone to identify possible accomplices and masterminds.

“He was filmed by neighbors and subdued by firefighters. We had to move him to Córdoba because we had no place to put him because they were really going to look for him. It was really a violent situation,” Quinteros said in a radio interview. The official also reckoned that no common pattern had been established among the 11 detainees. “But they are united by the same irrationality and the same madness,” he argued.

Quinteros also highlighted that forest fires have been recorded in Córdoba every year after August “These 11 detainees indicate a clear action of the police to look for them,” he pointed out. “There is no action of nature, there are no winds that cut wires that could generate a spark to start a fire or thunderstorms to do so because it has not rained for a long time and our weather forecast is very bad for the coming months,” he also explained.

After the eighth day of fires, only two outbreaks were reported active by Thursday morning: in San Marcos Sierras and Chancaní, where strong winds rotating from the south rekindled smoldering areas.

Meanwhile, the fires in Capilla del Monte and Villa Berna, though not fully put out, have been downgraded to “ash monitoring,” which lessens the burden on firefighters.