Overview
- Satellite-informed operational reports put the affected area at 11,970 hectares and note 526 personnel deployed, with the El Hoyo/Puerto Patriada perimeter 85% contained after rain.
- Authorities say the cause of the El Hoyo fire remains under investigation, and earlier statements cited indications of accelerants that require forensic confirmation.
- Active fronts persist in Parque Nacional Los Alerces near Arroyo Braese, where experts have estimated up to 10,000 hectares burned within the protected area.
- Epuyén declared a State of Catastrophe after the fire consumed more than half of its municipal area, as crews continue night operations using hand tools, water equipment and aircraft.
- A broad coalition of rights and environmental groups accused provincial and national leaders of stigmatizing Mapuche communities, while critics also fault deep cuts to Argentina’s fire-management funding and proposed rollbacks of forest protections.