A large number of houses were affected by the forest fire that is developing in the Punilla Valley, province of Córdoba (Argentina). As it passed through the town of Villa Carlos Paz, the fire surrounded the periphery and forced evacuations. Neighbors in the area had to leave their homes trying to rescue some belongings with the help of firefighters and police.
The 400 Homes neighborhood was one of the ones with the most emergency transfer operations, according to the newspaper La Voz del Interior.
At the same time, there are other fire outbreaks distributed in different parts of the provincial territory, although Punilla is the most important. According to the authorities, this outbreak began between Cabalango and Tanti due to the alleged irresponsibility of a 27-year-old man who had lit a bonfire to heat the kettle and prepare coffee. He is detained.
The intense wind that was recorded until early Tuesday morning and the heat that did not let up throughout the day, favored the development of the fire, which devastated everything since the last hours of Monday. The change in direction of the gusts forced more evacuations in other neighborhoods.
The number of houses that were affected has not yet been confirmed nor the number of neighbors who had to leave their homes due to the risk that the passage of the fire could generate, or due to the damage caused by the smoke in order to breathe normally.
According to data from the Ministry of local Security, the main forest fire is located in the Punilla Valley and covers the localities of Cabalango, Cuesta Blanca, Icho Cruz, Mayu Sumaj, San Antonio de Arredondo and Tala Huasi, Villa Carlos Paz . . . .
Due to the “interface risk” that threatens the homes located in the area, between Playas de Oro and Mayú Sumaj, a “preventive evacuation” was decided until the firefighters and brigade members secure that perimeter, said one of the troops working in the firefighting operation.
Photographer Fede Krypner, a resident of Villa Carlos Paz, recorded shocking images of the column of fire advancing over the city with a drone, published them on his Instagram account and they quickly went viral.
Verónica, a resident of the Playas de Oro neighborhood, told Télam that the situation is like “hell.” “Fortunately, it passed by my house and then went to other neighborhoods, where there are more complications,” she added.
Likewise, hundreds of images and videos were published on social networks with the situation that is being experienced. Rain is expected to arrive tonight and early tomorrow morning to assist with the work of firefighters and contain the spread of the fire.
In addition, the Highway Police ordered a cut on Provincial Route No. 14, between Villa Carlos Paz and San Antonio de Arredondo, due to the poor visibility caused by the smoke caused by the fire that is in the sector.
The fire also restarted in San Clemente (Santa María department) and in La Argentina (Minas department in the Traslasierra Valley).
On the other hand, the authorities assure that the fires that had been recorded in Barranca Yaco and Sinsacate, in the Sierras Chicas and near Jesús María, as well as in La Trinchera (San Justo department), Potrero de Garay (Calamuchita) are under control. and Copina (Punilla).
“The fire is very active between Carlos Paz and San Antonio de Arredondo, heading south of the 400 Homes neighborhood of the mountain town,” the secretary of Climate Risk Management, Disasters and Provincial Civil Protection, Claudio Vignetta, told local media. .
The person in charge added: “In that sector we have a risk of interface – danger to homes – which is why the Infantry personnel have worked very hard together with four planes and a helicopter that is doing the helicopter, permanently throwing water into the area where we have the greatest risk”.
In this regard, the official warned that “the situation is complicated, the temperature is high, the wind is intense and the ambient humidity is practically non-existent.”
“This forces us to protect homes and all brigade members and firefighters so that we do not have any inconvenience, neither with injuries nor with injuries,” he said.
He also reminded residents and visitors that “the risk of fire remains extreme” and advised to call by phone if they observe columns of smoke to the assistance lines 0800 888 38346 (Fire), 911 (Police) and 100 (Fire).
The majority of the people who were evacuated preventively in the last hours of Monday returned to their homes. According to preliminary data, at least two were hit by the fire and no human victims were recorded. The wind forced more transfers this Tuesday.
Governor Juan Schiaretti, late at night, referred to the origin of the fire in the Punilla Valley, the largest of the fires, and pointed out the author, the 27-year-old man, and relativized the hypothesis of carelessness.
“There is a detainee who intentionally started the fire and I hope that the full weight of the law falls on him, because 99% of the fires that we suffer every year in Córdoba are caused intentionally, either by intentional action or by irresponsibility” said the provincial leader who interrupted his presidential campaign to go to Villa Carlos Paz and meet with Civil Defense.
