Around 300 hectares of preserved ecosystem were lost or suffered considerable damage as a result of the burning in the Punta Lara Nature Reserve, which would have started with “an oversight” on one of its limits with the urban area of the coastal town of Cove.
The tension that was experienced from mid-afternoon on Wednesday -when the request for help was reported to the firefighters- until yesterday afternoon, in which the incident was controlled and an “ash guard” was established can be synthesized in some scenes . Yesterday morning, when the wind began to blow from the north, the fire was oriented towards the Punta Lara housing area and “the helicopter sent by the Province came to stop the fire with water discharges, almost inside the patios of the houses”, pointed out a source of the operation. Later, when the wind and the dry conditions continued to rule, it was necessary to resort to road machinery and open a fire break (a kind of street) inside the Reserve, some thousand meters from the coast, from the beginning of the urban area to the Camino Negro (Route 19). In this way, by creating an area of barren land, it was possible to “enclose” the fire.
Things had not started so serious, because on Wednesday afternoon the wind was pushing to the northwest and the fire could be managed between the starting point and the ruined Provincial road that has an adjoining channel. But at dawn the wind changed and the strategy had to be rethought.
With that, the emergency was reinforced and in the morning they were already working in the place, together with the Municipality of Ensenada and Volunteer Firefighters of that district, the Park Rangers and several fire departments from Magdalena, Berazategui, El Pato and Berisso.
Several fire departments, municipal employees and rangers, in the emergency / Sebastián Casali
The matter acquired such a dimension that it forced to add. Along with the fire trucks, 6 cisterns and sprinklers from Ensenada and 5 vans with water tanks were applied, various sources related to the tasks indicated.
It was noted that the contribution of the helicopter sent by the government was key. He arrived in the morning equipped with a bag that allowed him to collect water from the River and throw it on the flames in a matter of minutes. At that time, it was estimated that the fire formed a column two thousand meters long by several hundred meters wide.
ASH RAIN
The weather conditions and the drought that hit the local flora helped spread the fire and also brought debris to the center of the City.
In areas of Tolosa, Casco, Ringuelet, among others, roofs and patios woke up with charred remains of vegetation.
At the same time, in the houses where you can rest with the window open, they already noticed at night the typical smell that indicates grass fire.
At sunrise, a column of smoke could be seen from the northern part of the City.
A few days before, there was an alert in the border area between the Reserve and Punta Lara, but it could be managed. From the Municipality of Ensenada they indicated a permanent alert scenario due to the ease with which the fire can start. Even with the heat that the sun generates on glass, it had been warned.
The helicopter, key to attacking the fire / Sebastián Casali
This time, things will be different. A police source indicated that they were waiting for the presence of the Reserve authorities to file a complaint about the incident.
By the end of the day yesterday, when the tension of the combat began to drop, no injuries were reported and no neighboring houses were affected.
The Punta Lara Nature Reserve is located in the Ensenada and Berazategui districts, and occupies part of the Río de La Plata coast.
After an expansion process in recent decades, it is part of the Environmental Education Program and is visited by thousands of people per year. It attracts for the biodiversity of the native ecosystem.
This property is integrated into a complex -also subject to preservation- with the Pereyra Iraola Park, which adds another 10,000 hectares.
The Punta Lara reserve was created on February 19, 1943. It has an area of 6,000 hectares, between Ensenada and Berazategui. There are about 800 species of vascular plants, 300 birds, 40 mammals, 25 amphibians and reptiles, and hundreds of insects.
