The Falkland Islands government Chief Executive, Andy Keeling in an open statement has thanked all those involved in the response to the Sea Lion Island fire since Friday 8 March.
Add your comment!Falkland Islands firefighters continued to fight the fire at Sea Lion island over the weekend. On Monday 11 March additional firefighters have been sent to Sea Lion Island to provide further support. Members of the FIDF, Falkland Islands Defense Force, are also being sent out to provide logistic support for the firefighters.
Add your comment!The Argentine province of Chubut has asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for help in the probe into the fires in the Los Alerces National Park, Governor Ignacio Torres announced after meeting with US Ambassador Marc Stanley. “We need to find those responsible as soon as possible, and that there is an exemplary measure in the courts,” said Torres about the catastrophe that has been ongoing since Jan. 25 in which some 8,000 hectares have already been burned down.
Over 1000 hectares of land have burned down in the Los Alerces National Park in the Argentine province of Chubut, where Governor Ignacio Torres blamed the Mapuche Ancestral Resistance (RAM) rebel organization for starting the fire, it was reported Sunday. There are indications that the fire was intentional, he stressed.
A Spanish pilot lost his life on Monday when the firefighting plane he was operating crashed in the central Maule region, as reported by the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) of Chile.
Chubut investigators denied Monday that the Ancestral Mapuche Resistance (RAM) rebel organization had claimed responsibility for the fire in Currumahuida hill in the town of El Hoyo.
Around 60 people have been evacuated from their homes in the town of El Hoyo in the Argentine province of Chubut while 135 firefighters were deployed together with three hydrant planes and a helicopter to face the flames having gripped the Currumahuida hill since Sunday afternoon, it was reported.
One month after the forest fires started in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, the authorities are still unable to put down the flames as new hot spots keep being found with over 100 firefighters deployed. Over 9,000 hectares of native forests burned down, it was reported.
Chilean authorities announced late Sunday that the fire in Viña del Mar was under control and declared a red alert for a similar incident in La Araucanía.
At least two people have been killed and over 400 homes were burned down in a fire Friday at Viña del Mar, 120 km west of the Chilean capital. Authorities foresee it will take several days to extinguish the fire and the national government has declared a state of catastrophe for the Valparaíso region.