The Araucania region of Chile is currently experiencing a high level of wildfires due to years of drought. As such, Chile has declared a national alert. Wildfires in three national parks and reserves are threatening trees, some a thousand years old. Firefighters have been fighting the flames for more than a week in the southern region of Araucania.
The fires are burning in three protected areas: China Muerta National Reserve, Nalca Lolco National Reserve and Conguillio National Park and have affected 11,000 acres so far, including an area in Conguillio, popular with tourists because of its volcanoes and monkey puzzle trees. The trees (Araucaria araucana) are a member of the pine family, and can live up to a thousand years. Meteorologists say they are hoping enough rain will reach the south to put out the fires.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on March 29, 2016. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner