Aerial view of smoke columns are seen over mountains on the Conguillo National Park in Chile on March 22, 2015
Chile has declared a red alert for three national parks and reserves where massive wildfires are threatening forests that are thousands of years old, officials said Tuesday.
The fires have been raging for more than a week in the southern region of La Araucania, which has been hit by a severe drought.
The National Emergency Office (ONEMI) warned they would likely spread and intensify.
"It's going to be difficult to contain this
fire today and tomorrow, but we hope that by Thursday we can effectively have it under control," said the vice minister of the interior, Madmuh Aleuy.
The head of national forest service CONAF, Aaron Cavieres, said firefighters were battling to keep the blaze away from populated areas.
"High temperatures and
strong winds of more than 50 kilometers (30 miles) an hour are complicating our work to contain the fires," he said.
The fires are burning in three protected areas: China Muerta National Reserve, Nalca Lolco National Reserve and Conguillio National Park.
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