The Argentine government has declared a state of emergency over the wildfires in Patagonia, which have been blazing in the region since the start of the month. It declared the provinces of Chubut, Río Negro, Neuquén and La Pampa both as under fire emergency and as disaster zones. On Thursday, the government issued a series of measures aimed at strengthening the nationwide volunteer fire department system. Chief among them was the transfer of over AR$100,000 million (just over US$68 million) to be distributed among 1,062 volunteer fire departments. The weather has remained uncooperative, with changing winds making the behavior of the flames unpredictable and complicating planning operations.
