The environmental disaster burning 10,000 hectares in Patagonia, Argentina, last Sunday (January 24) was possibly triggered by a family barbeque.

The governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, said that the main hypothesis about the origin of the accident is a group of people having a barbecue in the area, which could have caused the environmental disaster.

Carreras was consulted with various versions that indicate a family had a barbecue in a house located in the area. A spark would have caused the fire.

The official replied: “From the air, you can see very clearly the place where the fire starts, which is a private home. Investigations are being carried out in that area… We have just contacted the attorney for the Province and the Río Negro Police, who have a hypothesis close to what you say."


"We are just looking for all the evidence, but apparently it would be negligence and not a malicious situation, so unfortunately an oversight would have generated this environmental disaster," the governor said.

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1. Various of fire from the air
2. Various of the work of the firefighters
3. Various of fire

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The fire in the Cuesta del Ternero area, near El Bolsón, in Argentine Patagonia, which broke out last Sunday afternoon, has already devastated almost 10,000 hectares of forest.

The governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, said that the main hypothesis that specialists handle about the origin of the accident refers to a group of people having a barbecue in the place, which would have produced the environmental disaster.

Carreras was consulted about the versions that indicate that a family had a barbecue in a house located in the area that is now on fire, and that a spark would have caused the fire. The official replied: “From the air you can see very clearly the place where the fire starts, which is a private home. Investigations are being carried out in that area… We have just contacted the attorney for the Province and the Río Negro Police, who have a hypothesis close to what you say ”.

"We are just looking for all the evidence, but apparently it would be a negligent and not malicious situation, so unfortunately an oversight would have generated this environmental disaster," she said.

Despite the fact that the fire "has no limit and is advancing in a very worrying way towards Chubut", the provincial president confirmed that only two houses were burned and that its inhabitants were evacuated, without registering injuries.

The situation worsened considerably due to the wind in the area.

According to Carreras, the work of the more than 100 brigadistas who are in the place is insufficient to stop a fire of this magnitude, which continues to grow towards the south. Therefore, what is sought in the first instance is to preserve the homes in the area without putting any life at risk, while waiting for the weather conditions to help put out the fire.

But for that we will have to wait. For tomorrow light rains are expected, which would not collaborate much with the brigade members. Only on Thursday or even Friday would stronger rainfall arrive.

“We depend on the weather conditions. It is estimated that the temperature will drop a little and that we will have some rain, but it will not necessarily extinguish the fire. That can take several days, people with more experience inform me. So we will have to be guarding the limits of the fire for several more days, ”Carreras explained.

A few hours before, the head of the Technical Area of ​​the Forest Fire Prevention and Fight Service (SPLIF) of El Bolsón, Nicolás de Agostini, declared: “Due to the dryness of the vegetable fuel in the area in recent weeks, added to The strong winds, made the situation get out of control like we had never seen. I've been here for 13 or 14 years and nothing like this has ever been seen in this area. The biggest fire that we had had had been of about 2,000 hectares ”.

“It is a rural area, the landscape is a transition between the mountain range and the steppe. It is a mountainous landscape with some valleys, which makes fighting difficult because to move water you have to travel many kilometers. There are groups of houses and large fields with houses and sheds, ”said De Agostini.

The flames began around 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday in Cuesta del Ternero, a Rio Negro area located on Provincial Route 6, which connects El Bolsón with the Chubut town of El Maitén, one of the most beautiful tourist areas in southern Argentina.