On the 17th of February 2005, a big wildfire started in the "Laguna Azul" area, caused by the negligence of a tourist whose stove fell, and set fire to the ground. The fire lasted for 11 days, and burned more than 15,000 hectares (38,000 acres), 76 % of that was the national park, and the rest, 24 % affected the three estancias, Cerro Paine, Tercera Barranca and Estancia Laguna Amarga.

The difficult recovery of nature

The national park, Torres del Paine, has an area of 227.298 ha (561.666 acres), and the fire burned down 10,000 ha, almost 5 % of the national park. A study was made 3 years after the fire, showing that the recovery was very slow and difficult, especially for the native forest, being mostly represented by ñirre (Nothofagus antarctica), a species of Southern beech. Fortunately, vegetation areas represented mainly by Patagonian steppe and Scrub had recovered almost entirely. Today, 18 years later, the area is still recovering, and CONAF (Chile's National Forestry Corporation) are working on the reforestation in the forest area of Laguna Azul. When visiting the forest area, you will see some green plastic boxes on the ground, protecting the replanted trees from being eaten by other animals, like the introduced European hare (Lepus europaeus), another threat to a successful forestation.

When the fire happened, a massive process of biological invasion was recorded, where many exotic species, especially of European origin, started to grow in the burned site before the native species could establish themselves. These invasive plants compete for resources, like water, sun, shadow, and protection from the wind, and hinder reforestation. The invasion of exotic species is another big challenge for successful reforestation.

Furthermore, fires impact the soil fertility and structure, leading to erosion and degradation. Without adequate soil stabilization measures, newly planted trees may struggle to survive in nutrient-poor or unstable soil conditions.

Estancia Laguna Amarga, in the middle of the fire

Estancia Laguna Amarga was also affected, but being an area with mainly Patagonian steppe, the recovery has been faster. Luckily, none of the buildings were affected by the fire. Only one old, historic caravan, used by the shepherds, had to be moved from the area of Sarmiento (where the office of Leona Amarga is today) to avoid being burned. This caravan is today located close to the buildings of Estancia Laguna Amarga.

A big area of the grasslands was burned, most of the fences as well. Today, you hardly see that there has been a wildfire around Estancia Laguna Amarga, only some burned down fence poles are left as witnesses.

Fires inside the national park, Torres del Paine

In the park, 3 mayor fire have happened, one in 1985, the second one in 2005 and the last one in 2011-2012, a fire that lasted for 2 months.

1985 Fire: The fire in 1985 burned approximately 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of the national park.

2005 Fire: The fire in 2005 burned approximately 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of the national park.

2011-2012 Fire: The fire that occurred between December 2011 and January 2012 burned approximately 17,000 (42,000 acres) of the national park.

Adding the areas affected by each of these fires gives a total of approximately 42,000 hectares (103,784 acres). This is almost 20% of the national park that has been and continues to be affected by fires! All these fires were caused by human negligence and could have been prevented. This is why the national park is very strict with the use of fire, smoking is prohibited, and a stove can only be used in assigned areas. Despite obvious evidence of devastating forest fires, tourists are kicked out of the park every year due to illegal use of fire.

We encourage all visitors to respect our rules, no smoking and no use of fire were not permitted. A small mistake and a catastrophe can happen in seconds.

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Note: there are many different sources with different numbers of hectares burned, these are estimated numbers, rounded up. It might be a little less or more, according to the sources.

Photo credits: Daniel Bruhil

Sources:

http://cybertesis.uach.cl/tesis/uach/2008/fifr763a/doc/fifr763a.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235255546_Torres_del_Paine_ecoturismo_e_incendios_forestales_perspectivas_de_investigacion_y_manejo_para_una_biodiversidad_erosionada