Brigade members of the national government and the provinces of Entre Ríos, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires continued to fight fires on the islands of the Paraná River delta on Thursdaywhich were revived in the last hours at the height of the Buenos Aires localities Ramallo, Zárate and San Nicolás, while the smoke and the smell of burning affected several areas of the northern region of the country and it is expected that this Friday, by the rotation of the wind, expand again through the city of Rosario.
As reported this afternoon to the Ministry of the Environment in Entre Ríos, there are currently six “controlled and contained” outbreaks near the towns of Alvear (Santa Fe) and San Pedro (Buenos Aires)and one of great magnitudes detected at the height of Ramallo that is being attacked.
The mayor of that town, Gustavo Perie stated that “the situation is very complex” and that Civil Defense personnel estimated “between 3 and 4 days” the term to control the firewhich covered some 2,500 hectares of the Entre Ríos wetland, off the coast of Buenos Aires.
Perie pointed out that “there was a great curtain of fire 14 kilometers” from the city “that came from the coast” and that yesterday affected the city with large columns of smoke.
“The wind, thank God, has rotated, but we are waiting for it to blow from the East again in the next few hours”said the mayor in statements to Cadena 3.
In addition, he pointed out that “the drought is so great and the river is so steep that there are no internal channels on the islands, so it is very difficult to get there with equipment to put out the fire.”
The person in charge of the Environmental Observatory of the National University of Rosario (UNR), Matías De Bueno, told Télam that “there are about four thousand hectares on fire” in the Ramallo area and “the situation is difficult due to the drought and the winds.”
De Bueno explained that the rotation of the wind, from the south, today carried the smoke towards the town of Victoria in Entre Ríos, although “later it could rotate to the east and reach Rosario.”
For its part, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development reported that in Entre Ríos there are controlled and contained outbreaks in Victoria (Naranja, El Ojo de Montiel and El Zorro) and in Gualeguay (Intenso, Reinicio el Cuadro, and Daniel and XL), that affect Buenos Aires cities of San Nicolás, Ramallo and Zárate.
The province of Buenos Aires also has controlled and contained outbreaks in Campana and San Fernando, while in Tigre there is an active fire.
In the Delta there are also outbreaks in Santa Fein the town of San Jerónimo (Papelillo) that is controlled and other content in Constitución (Sol).
Two hydrant planes, two helicopters with buckets and an observer plane belonging to the National Fire Management Service (SMNF) and two other helicopters for the transfer of personnel belonging to the Ministry of Defense operate in the area.
Likewise, more than 60 brigade members have been available since June for the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires.
The national portfolio made available to the Federal Judiciary Power data produced by the Conservation Lighthouses that make it possible to identify the location of the land where the fires began, and also called on the province of Entre Ríos to indicate “the cadastral nomenclature of said land to determine the ownership of the fields”.
The head of the Ministry of the Environment in Entre Ríos, Daniela García, told Télam that the population should “become aware of the importance of extreme care and avoid any burning practice”, from “fishing fires to minimal acts such as throwing cigarette butts.”
With the current conditions of the Paraná river downspout, the lack of rain, and the new alert issued for high temperatures and strong winds for this week, “everything is prone to generating large fires,” the official said, adding that in order to work on the fire “You have to know the terrain, have the necessary equipment and knowledge”, because otherwise “you are in danger”, for which he requested not to approach to try to collaborate.
On Wednesday, the AMBA region was covered with smoke and a strong smell of smoke from the fires in the areas of the Buenos Aires cities of San Nicolás, Ramallo and Zárateaccording to the head of the Environmental Observatory of the National University of Rosario (UNR), Matías De Bueno, but the rotation of the wind improved conditions this morning.
“So much wind without humidity and without rain favors the spread of fires, but now, as the wind is from the south, the smell of smoke is not felt in the area of Buenos Aires and AMBA as it happened yesterday. This same front is the one that caused the collapse of temperatures, yesterday we had a maximum of 28 degrees and today the maximum is not going to reach 20 degrees. But the speed of the wind is going to start to decrease starting at night,” Mariela De Diego, from the Service, told Télam National Meteorological (SMN).
De Diego specified that “Today the smoke is going to affect mainly the north and center of Salta, and the east of Jujuy, but it is also expected to reach Tucumán, north of Santiago del Estero, southwest of Entre Ríos, north of Santa Fe, to Formosa. and west of Chaco”, while he anticipated that “tomorrow the wind is expected to rotate to the east sector, for which the smoke from the entire area of the Paraná Delta may return to the Rosario area.”
In this context and waiting for the smoke to reach Rosario again, The Santa Fe government decided to request expert reports from firefighters and rescuers who work in the territory, in order to take legal action.
The provincial Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Erika Gonnet, anticipated, through her official Twitter account, that “The information collected will be incorporated into a new criminal complaint promoted by the Government of Santa Fe, as well as used in the corresponding sanctioning processes.”
Given the fires that affect the metropolitan region of Santa Fe, we ask the sapper firefighters to carry out an expert report in the affected area.
— Erika Gonnet (@ErikaGonnet) October 13, 2022
The official considered that those responsible for burning fields “should be punished” because “the fires we suffer affect our quality of life and our environment.”
Gonnet made reference to the constant intentional burning in the wetlands of the Paraná River, where the environment is razed in search of preparing the ground for livestock and real estate activity and that have not only generated strong protests from environmentalists and the Santa Fe political leadership, but also led to the Ministry of the Environment to present complaints in the court of Victoria, Entre Ríos.
While, Rosario environmental groups insisted on demanding that a date be set to deal with the Wetlands Law, after an intermediate room was agreed upon in the plenary of commissions that is debating the project in the Chamber of Deputies with the aim of reaching a consensus opinion between the different political blocs.
The Rural Society, meanwhile, expressed days ago its position against a possible new Wetlands Law, understanding that there is already a regulation in this regard and that the new initiative would affect economic activity.
The situation in Cordoba
Vehicular traffic on provincial route E-34, known as Camino de las Altas Cumbres, was restored after noon after volunteer firefighters controlled the forest fire of considerable size that had been recorded since last night in the Pampa de Achala area of Cordoba. provincial sources reported.
The fire started this Wednesday and the volunteer firefighters had an arduous task throughout the early morning and morning, complicated by the rotation of the wind, with gusts of up to 60 kilometers per hour and in certain sectors the fire got out of control.
On Thursday morning, the flames continued with an active focus of about 1,500 meters in front, about 300 meters from the road, within the Quebrada del Condorito National Park.
The focus was contained although the ash watch is maintained due to the danger of new restarts, since the drought, the wind and the low probability of rains maintain the extreme risk of fires for the entire province.
The Highway Police had completely cut off traffic on the route due to the poor visibility in the sector and to facilitate the work of the brigade members.
At mid-morning, two hydrant planes joined to collaborate with the ground work, after the decrease in the intensity of the wind.
This Wednesday afternoon, in another fire, a 17-year-old boy was killed by the flames while collaborating to stop the fire in his family’s ranch.
