⁍ The fires so far this year have scorched at least 48,000 hectares in the central province of Cordoba.

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⁍ Firefighters have used helicopters and airplanes to drop water to contain the blazes.

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⁍ Justice officials were investigating the cause of the fires amid suspicion that they were set by ranchers clearing pastures to make way for new growth.

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– “We’re moving heavy equipment that we have working here at Las Jarillas, where we had to protect many residences,” the director of Cordoba’s civil defense department tells Reuters. “Luckily no homes have been burned; some locals have been evacuated.” The city in Argentina’s central province of Cordoba has been hit by wildfires that have burned more than 48,000 hectares so far this year—more than double the average for the area, and on track to surpass last year’s total of around 53,000 hectares, a local biologist tells Reuters. Officials are investigating whether the fires are the work of ranchers clearing pastures to make way for new growth, a common practice in Argentina. The Cordoba fires coincide with wetland fires in Argentina’s Parana delta region, another area of concern for scientists due to its carbon-rich soil, while huge fires are engulfing wetland areas of Brazil. Cordoba officials have moved to close transit routes to contain the flames and bring in fire-fighting equipment. Some homes had been lost in July-August, though officials said they had prevented further damage more recently. “We’re moving heavy equipment that we have working here at Las Jarillas, where we had to protect many residences. Luckily no homes have been burned; some locals have been evacuated,” says the director of Cordoba’s civil defense department.