Argentina's government has declared an emergency over wildfires raging for weeks in four provinces in the remote southern Patagonia region

Argentina's government has declared an emergency over wildfires raging for weeks in four provinces in the remote southern Patagonia region

Argentina's government on Thursday declared an emergency in Patagonia, where wildfires have ripped through vast tracts of forest since the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

The biggest blazes are in southern Chubut province, where at least 45,000 hectares of forest -- an area roughly the size of San Francisco -- have gone up in smoke since mid-January.

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.