Chile national park fire spreads, ravages 11,000 hectares of woodland

Dec 31, 2011, 11:40 GMT

Santiago - A fire ravaging a national park in southern Chile has grown to engulf an area of 11,000 hectares, local media reported Saturday citing emergency officials.

The natural landscape of the Torres del Paine national park in Chile's Patagonia region would take 30 to 50 years to recover, said Environment Minister Maria Ignacia Benitez, quoted in the La Tercera newspaper.

The blaze is believed to have been started by careless park visitors. An investigation was underway.

President Sebastian Pinera has declared the region a disaster area and has requested assistance from Argentina, Australia and the United States in battling the fire.

The number of workers tasked with putting out the fire has grown substantially, up to 600 from 120 on Friday.

The fire was first reported Tuesday in the area around Lake Grey. Winds have hindered efforts to put out the flames.

Torres del Paine is one of the country's best-known national parks, with its mountains, lakes, steppe landscapes, woods and glaciers. It is home to the guanaco, the South Andean deer known as huemul and the condor, among other species.

The park stretches across 240,000 hectares on the Argentine border, about 300 kilometres from the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas. It is one of the region's main sources of income.