The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Juan Cabandié, traveled to Patagonia to monitor the firefighting tasks affecting this region. In particular in the district of El Hoyo, Chubut, where he was received by the mayor of the commune, Pol Huisman.

It should be noted that the large Boeing CH47-D “Chinook” helicopter is already carrying out operations in the said area. It arrived in Argentina from Canada thanks to the cooperation between the two countries and thanks to the management of the national ministry of the environment. The goal is for its operations to collaborate in Patagonia to combat igneous springs during the summer season. The twin-prop air vehicle has the largest water launch capacity in the world – 10,000 liters – and adds to the resources available from the National Fire Management Service (SNMF), which commands the portfolio in charge of Cabandie. Before, this aerial means was used to fight forest fires in the countries of the region, such as Bolivia and Chile.

In this regard, Cabandié assured: “Since we took control of the National Fire Management Service, in August 2020, we have endeavored to carry out a global and federal policy of coordination with all national, provincial and municipal actors. that would allow us to deal with emergencies and the situation”. In this regard, he explained that “between 2019 and 2022, the service’s budget increased 70 times, from $196 million in 2019 to over $14 billion in 2022.”

In the Andean region, there is a fire going up the hill of Currumahuida, in the region of El Hoyo. There, 45 forest fighters from the National Brigade of the South and National Parks work there, accompanied by two hydrant planes, an amphibious and a helicopter with a helipad, in addition to the Boeing Chinook.

In the province, where a weather forecast is also provided for planning purposes, the igneous springs of El Pedregoso (Las Pataguas) and Los Cipreses (La Rinconada) have been contained. In addition, recently in Trevelin, the support of the SNMF was provided by means of a helicopter equipped with a tipper belonging to the said service.

During his tour, the National Minister visited the Emergency Operations Command (COE), from where the tasks related to firefighting are planned. Lugo traveled to the Lago Puelo National Park, to make direct contact with the operations of the mentioned large helicopter.

Recall that the National Environment Portfolio provides for the hiring of reinforcements for fixed-wing and rotary-wing air services for the 2022 and 2023 season; doubled the number of members of the SNMF brigade; supplied clothing to combatants of the said service, national parks and the army; generated a sector collective labor agreement that benefits more than 500 members of the brigade; created two new bases of operations in San Luis and Apóstoles and trained more than 1,700 agents, among other actions carried out.

President of the National Parks Administration, Federico Granato; the director of the SNMF, Alberto Seufferheld; the director of operations and logistics of the SNMF, Noelia Ortiz; the coordinator of the Patagonia Regional, Carolina Juárez, the adviser of the Secretariat for Environmental Control and Surveillance of the National Ministry of the Environment, Carlos Silva; and the Secretary of Territorial Development and Environment of the province of Neuquén, Jorge Lara.