Overview
- More than 350 firefighting personnel are battling the blazes with water-bombing aircraft and helicopters in southern Argentina near the Chile border.
- Emergency crews moved thousands of visitors to safety, including over 3,000 people evacuated from the town of El Hoyo.
- Hot, dry summer conditions and strong winds are driving rapid spread and hindering containment operations.
- Ecological losses include the destruction of some of Argentina's oldest trees, with specimens several centuries old burned.
- Authorities report the fires remain active as investigations proceed into their largely human-caused origins.