Argentine government declares fire emergency as the fire in Patagonia doesn't subside

Buenos Aires.- The Argentine Government confirmed this Thursday the signing of a Decree of Necessity and Urgency that declares the fire emergency for the Patagonian provinces of Chubut, Río Negro, Neuquén and La Pampa, due to the fires that started at the beginning of the year that have burned more than 45,000 hectares of native forest. "The Decree of Necessity and Urgency declaring the Fire Emergency in the provinces of Chubut, Río Negro, Neuquén and La Pampa is being signed," reported the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorni, on his X social media account. The measure was taken following the request of the Patagonian governors who, last Tuesday, stated that "the magnitude of the fires" demands "exceptional tools" and while the national government's negotiations with the provincial leaders are underway regarding the initiatives that the ruling party seeks to promote in Congress this February, such as labor reform and the modification of the juvenile criminal regime.

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The national government allocated this Thursday more than 100.8 billion pesos (approximately 68.8 million dollars) to volunteer fire associations that fight fires.

What does the igneous emergency for Patagonia contemplate?

The measure, published this Thursday in the Official Bulletin, provides for the transfer of funds from the Ministry of National Security to the Volunteer Firefighters Associations of the area, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and to the Council of Federations of Volunteer Firefighters. According to the official text, the money will be used for "the purchase of equipment, materials, clothing and other items intended for firefighting and civil protection of the population, as well as for the conservation and maintenance in perfect condition and use of the same." In Los Alerces National Park, in the province of Chubut, 20,000 hectares of mountainous terrain covered in forest and vegetation have been affected by fires attributed to a lightning strike last December, which firefighters and brigades are unable to contain in their advance towards nearby residential areas.

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About 200 kilometers further south, a fire in a forested area known as Puerto Patriada exceeded the figure of 23,000 hectares burned in recent days and affected numerous homes in the tourist towns of Epuyén and El Hoyo. In the El Turbio area, also in Chubut, another 3,000 hectares have burned since the beginning of 2026. In the province of Santa Cruz, about 700 hectares were burned from the end of December 2025 due to a poorly extinguished bonfire, and in Río Negro, another 3,000 hectares were affected by a grassland fire that started in a controlled manner by agricultural producers but extended far beyond what was expected.

The Budget Problems

Organizations like Greenpeace and the Foundation for Environment and Natural Resources (FARN) point out that, in parallel with the current climatic conditions, the budgetary and strategic decisions of President Javier Milei's government have caused delays in the early fight against fire. Andrés Nápoli, executive director of FARN, warned in dialogue with EFE that the Executive spent in the last year only 75% of the budget allocated to fire management and that the national funds approved by Congress to prevent and combat forest fires were cut by 71% in 2026. "The lawmakers representing the provinces affected by the fires approved those reductions through a global agreement with the Government," Napoli emphasized.

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According to local press reports, the Government of Chubut received and froze almost 540 million pesos (about $369,863) from a fund of the Forest Law, which should have been applied to programs for the management, protection, and recovery of native forests. Those funds are in addition to the $600,000 from international organizations such as the Green Climate Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that the provincial government has been withholding since March 2024, according to information provided by the newspaper Tiempo Argentino after accessing the official records of the allocations.