The fire in a field in Pilar that caused a massive power outage in a large part of the country is under control and there is no danger of spreading, although the fire brigades continue to cool down the sources of heat, local authorities reported.
#Pillar “Controlled” fire. Air and ground cooling tasks are carried out. 3 helicopters and two teams of Volunteer Firefighters. @Kicillofok @SergioBerniArg pic.twitter.com/1VOtBVHzYP
– PBA Civil Defense (@defensacivilba) March 2, 2023
“At this moment we are cooling down on the ground. The smoke continues from the trunks and the weeds that were there, but there is no danger of spreading,” said the head of the Pilar Volunteer Fire Department, Martín Lucero, about the operation deployed in the field. set on fire
“At this moment we are doing a ground cooling. The smoke continues from the trunks and the weeds that were there, but there is no danger of spreading”
Yes ok the focus is “controlled”, two volunteer firefighters and helicopters from the province of Buenos Aires remain in placewhich will continue “during the day with the ash guard, given the complexity of Wednesday and the temperatures of this Thursday,” said the firefighter in statements to the media.
“It is an area with a high level of complexity due to the medium and high voltage lines, nearby neighborhoods, and to that we add the extreme heat that it was yesterday and the water crisis. It is a very high risk situation”maintained, for his part, Fabián García, provincial director of Civil Defense.
During the morning of this Thursday, the PBA helicopters continued the flights “to reconnoiter the hot spots that still exist” and collaborating in the cooling work in areas that “it is very difficult to reach by land,” he said.
“We had to do all this movement (of resources) probably because of a person who wanted to burn a mound of garbage or to clear a piece of land,” García said.
Along these lines, he urged the residents of the area “not to set fires” on these days of high temperatures and “if they have to burn for any reason, go to the local fire station and give notice, to work together.”
“On Wednesday around 3:20 p.m. we received an emergency call, the first two units came and from then on we were working until late at night with the collaboration of seven neighboring barracks and the support of the provincial security ministry.”detailed the firefighter regarding the operation deployed yesterday.
Four of the nine helicopters from the province of Buenos Aires went to the scene, which were able to work “less than an hour because the situations were very risky,” given the complexity of the fire and the temperature.
The fire, which started on Wednesday shortly after 3:00 p.m., disturbed a 500 kW high-voltage line that connects Campana with General Rodríguez, which caused a massive power outage in a large part of the country starting at 3:59 p.m., after several failures. in the interconnected system.
The flames affected the network of the entire province of Buenos Aires, the Central area of the country, Cuyo and the Northwest, which gradually recovered their services between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., while the Litoral and Northeast provinces were not affected, according to official information.