Large forest fire hits Argentine Patagonia; ‘Hell’, says resident

Large fire consumes Argentine Patagonia in January 2026. Martin Levicoy/AFP A large forest fire hit Argentine Patagonia during the week and has already consumed more than 5,500 hectares as of this Sunday (11). Hundreds of firefighters and volunteer residents are working tirelessly to contain the flames, which are out of control and have left small communities in the region on high alert. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp The fire, which has several outbreaks, occurs just one year after the worst forest fires to hit Patagonia in three decades, in a series of extreme events that put constant pressure on official and community firefighting systems. “There is no way to describe what we are experiencing. There are fires everywhere; a new one is reported every five minutes. It’s hell,” said Flavia Broffoni, a resident of Epuyén, this Saturday on her Instagram account. Broffoni is one of dozens of residents who have worked tirelessly to contain the flames since Monday, when the fire broke out in the resort of Puerto Patriada, about 1,700 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires. See the videos trending on g1 Despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters, the fire devastated thousands of hectares of vegetation and surrounded the small town of Epuyén, a village with just over two thousand inhabitants, located between a glacial lake and hills covered by native forests. The province’s governor, Ignacio Torres, declared that due to the adverse weather conditions predicted for the weekend, the “next 48 hours will be vital” to contain the fire. “The fire has already reached more than 5,500 hectares of rural areas and native forest. In the coming hours, work will continue in the most critical sectors of the fire, with the reinforcement of firebreak lines, the cooling of hot spots and the opening and expansion of roads”, said Torres in a publication in X. Around three thousand tourists in Puerto Patriada and 15 families in the Epuyén region were evacuated, Torres specified. More than 10 houses were destroyed by fire. The official operation involves almost 500 people, including firefighters, rescue teams, security forces and support personnel. Over the weekend, reinforcement aircraft and more firefighters are expected from the province of Córdoba (central Argentina) and Chile. Large fire consumes Argentine Patagonia in January 2026. Gonzalo Keogan/AFP Large fire consumes Argentine Patagonia in January 2026. Gonzalo Keogan/AFP

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