Los Alerces: National park in Argentina engulfed in wildfire

Over 100 firefighters are working hard to put out a forest fire in Chubut province in southern Argentina.

A big fire started on Thursday at Los Alerces national park in northern Patagonia. The park is a special place with very big alerce trees and it is a World Heritage site protected by Unesco.

Governor Ignacio Torres said that the fire was started on purpose and has burned over 1,000 hectares.

He said that the smoke was making it hard for aerial firefighters to see and do their job.

The fire got bigger because the area was really hot. The temperatures rose to 40C (104F) in the port city of San Antonio Oeste.

Mario Cárdenas, the head of the fire department at Los Alerces, said that the fire had moved from the park to the nearby areas.

He said the fire was still not under control, but more firefighters were coming to help.

The national park called Los Alerces has trees that are very old and can grow really tall, up to 45m (150ft) or even more.

The park is really big, almost 260,000 hectares. Its important for protecting the Patagonian Forest.

The head of the park, Danilo Hernández Otaño, said the fire started in two different places that were close to each other.

MrHernandez also said that it was intentionally placed and not an accident.

“The people who caused the fire will have to go to court,” said Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres.