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Magallanes municipal government via AFP - Getty Images
Part of the Torres del Paine fire is seen on Friday along Chile's southern coast.
Hundreds of tourists and locals were ordered out of Chile's Torres del Paine national park on Friday as a wildfire quickly spread and extra firefighting resources were deployed.
President Sebastian Pinera declared the park a "disaster area," forcing the closure of Chile's most popular foreign attraction at least through January.
Some 700 tourists and dozens of workers were quickly evacuated and Pinera asked for firefighting backup from the U.S., Argentina and Australia.
Magallanes municipal government via Reuters
Firefighters from neighboring Argentina help battle Chile's Torres del Paine wildfire on Friday.
By Friday evening the wildfire had burned more than 22,000 acres of the 600,000-acre park, which is a U.N. World Biosphere Reserve.
Gusts up to 70 mph have fanned the blaze. What caused it is still under investigation.
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Are those icebergs in the first picture?
Probably -- it's way down there at 52 degrees S. Lots of glaciers in the area.
They are chunks of glacial ice, which has calved off the glacier in the background (look in the far upper-left corner - you can just make out the glacier's terminus). Very strong winds push those chunks to the far end of the lake after they break off. It's unbelievably windy there in the summer (remember, their seasons are reversed from ours).
The water in that lake is largely from glacier melt, which is why it looks so murky.
Patagonia has one of the largest ice fields in the world, and Torres del Paine contains hundreds of them.
I spent 8 days there in 2008. While I was there, the park was hit by a sudden hot spell, and huge parts of it flooded from melting glaciers. Many hiking trails were inaccessible or underwater (as were a few hotels).
One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I have a few pics of the place here:
http://drich13.newsvine.com/_news/2010/12/03/5573831-patagonia-foto-friday
Are those icebergs in the first picture?
Torres del Paine is in the far south of Chile and has a glacier, ice floes etc. Much of Chile is suffering from drought and it is summer there, but it is still unbelievable that a fire of this magnitude should be burning!
Yes, it's the end of a La Nina cycle so hopefully the rains will come soon.
Do they need other nations' help?
Hope that they can contain the fire and pray that the weather will help them to stop the fire grow and pray that all firemen are protected.
Tough area - prone to drought and windy conditions. I was there in 2005, and on our last day in the park there was a fire starting up, the smoke from which blotted out the views on our hike, and caused us to modify our plans - part of the park was closed because of it.
Very neat place, but not easy to get to. Glaciers, icebergs floating around, even in mid-summer. We even got to strap on some crampons and do a little ice-climbing on the Grey Glacier.
They are chunks of glacial ice, which has calved off the glacier in the background (look in the far upper-left corner - you can just make out the glacier's terminus). The water in that lake is largely from glacier melt, which is why it looks so murky.
Patagonia has one of the largest ice fields in the world, and Torres del Paine contains hundreds of them.
I spent 8 days there in 2008. While I was there, the park was hit by a sudden hot spell, and huge parts of it flooded from melting glaciers. Many hiking trails were inaccessible or underwater (as were a few hotels).
One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I have a few pics of the place here:
http://drich13.newsvine.com/_news/2010/12/03/5573831-patagonia-foto-friday
Sorry for the double post.