\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t A wildfire hotspot in Epuy\u00e9n, the area most affected by the flames in Chubut, has reignited as firefighters struggle to contain the situation that has been affecting several parts of Patagonia in southern Argentina for days.<\/p>\n
The most damaged areas so far are Epuy\u00e9n and the Los Alerces National Park. 13,600 hectares have been lost to the blaze there, according to information from the Provincial Fire Management Service. Over 600 people are working to stop the fires.<\/p>\n
Over 20 houses, a ranch and two hotels have been burned down since the wildfires began on January 5. Two people have been reported seriously injured: a firefighter, who remains hospitalized with over half of his body burned, and a man who lives in the area and was helping as a volunteer. The latter is currently under intensive care with burns on 20% of his body.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a hotspot that had previously been contained in El Pedregoso, near Epuy\u00e9n, reignited despite the fact that rainfalls on Sunday had brought some relief to firefighters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The situation worries local authorities, as strong winds and dry weather create the perfect conditions for flames to ignite. \u201cThis is one of the most aggressive fires in the history of the province,\u201d said Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres during an interview with Urbana Play radio on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen fire grow at such a speed, with 30 meter flames,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n
En Parques Nacionales contamos con un sistema integrado para la prevenci\u00f3n y el combate de incendios forestales, con el cual trabajamos durante todo el a\u00f1o junto a la @AFE_Arg . pic.twitter.com\/uWGiXzqbOX<\/p>\n
\u2014 Parques Nacionales Argentina (@ParquesOficial) January 13, 2026 Torres explained that Chubut is under \u201cthe worst drought since 1975\u201d and said that, while the fire in Epuy\u00e9n, which began in an area called Puerto Patriada, was manmade and caused intentionally, there was evidence that the one in Los Alerces National Park was started by lightning during a storm.<\/p>\n
The National Human Development Ministry reported that four homes have been affected by the fire in Epuy\u00e9n and El Hoyo in recent hours.<\/p>\n
However, Torres said that there is currently no risk of the blaze reaching more homes in Epuy\u00e9n, and that firefighters are working on a firewall to prevent the flames from reaching the town of Choalila. He is hoping the rain expected on Wednesday will improve the situation.<\/p>\n
The cause of the fires Torres addressed theories regarding how the fires in Puerto Patriada and Epuy\u00e9n began. On social media, users speculated that they may have been started by Mapuche communities \u2014 often wrongfully accused in the Patagonia area of attempting to appropriate land that they claim as their own. Others claimed that the fires were caused by real estate companies that want to sell the burned land to foreigners for them to build there, pointing specifically at Israeli nationals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a moment like this, we can\u2019t waste time refuting whether they were Israelis, or if people want to sell land to foreigners and all that nonsense people are saying,\u201d Torres stated. He called them \u201cconspirational theories aimed at creating distractions\u201d with a political goal, and clarified that it is illegal in the province to sell native forests.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year we have intentional fires. There can be willful intent or not, like a tourist that starts a fire for a barbecue and creates a catastrophe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Torres also denied the claims accusing Mapuche communities, as did Lago Puelo head prosecutor Carlos D\u00edaz Mayer, who said in an interview with Buenas Tardes China that their involvement had been \u201ccompletely ruled out.\u201d<\/p>\n
En la zona de los incendios en Chubut se investigan hechos deliberados e intencionales para iniciar el fuego. <\/p>\n
Los indicios preliminares indican que estos delitos estar\u00edan vinculados a grupos terroristas autodenominados mapuches, con antecedentes de atentados contra la seguridad\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ministerio de Seguridad Nacional (@MinSeguridad_Ar) January 11, 2026 The governor\u2019s words were aimed at the National Security Ministry, which reproduced the accusations against the native communities, saying that preliminary investigations suggested the fires were \u201clinked to terrorist groups who call themselves Mapuches.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They added that those groups have a record of similar crimes under the modus operandi of \u201cenvironmental terror.\u201d The statement likely refers to the RAM (Mapuche Ancestral Resistance), a group led by currently imprisoned activist Facundo Jones Huala. The RAM has been accused in the past by the national and provincial governments in Patagonia of being behind attacks and illegal land occupation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One suspect In a press conference, D\u00edaz Mayer and the head provincial police chief Andr\u00e9s Garc\u00eda said that they analyzed security cameras in Puerto Patriada and found that, minutes after the fire had begun, two trucks were seen leaving the area \u201cloaded with personal items, like they were moving out, with boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite D\u00edaz Mayer\u2019s denial that Mapuches were involved, Garc\u00eda said that they were investigating a \u201cland dispute\u201d involving the community, which started after a woman moved into the area from Buenos Aires province and \u201cdemanded to be considered part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prosecution considers the woman the main suspect of starting the fire in Puerto Patriada. On Monday, the provincial police raided her house \u2014 which was affected by the fire \u2014 and seized personal items, like cellphones. The home is located in the Pulgar Huentuquidel community.<\/p>\n
Speaking with the Herald\u2019s sister TV network C5N, the woman, who identified herself as Roc\u00edo Brizuela, outright rejected the accusations. \u201cI would not hurt my own animals, damage my own house and my own family,\u201d she said. \u201cThey searched and didn\u2019t find anything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A wildfire hotspot in Epuy\u00e9n, the area most affected by the flames in Chubut, has reignited as firefighters struggle to contain the situation that has been affecting several parts of Patagonia in southern Argentina for days. The most damaged areas so far are Epuy\u00e9n and the Los Alerces National Park. 13,600 hectares have been lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":25944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[634,2541,1237,7544,151,7225],"tags":[3615,2819,7730,7731,135,7289],"class_list":["post-25943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chubut","category-environment","category-ignacio-torres","category-patagonia-wildfires","category-society","category-wildfires","tag-chubut","tag-environment","tag-ignacio-torres","tag-patagonia-wildfires","tag-society","tag-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}