Plane crashes while fighting Argentina forest fire
January 5th, 2012 - 9:46 am ICT by IANSBuenos Aires, Jan 5 (IANS/EFE) A plane being used to fight a forest fire in Argentina crashed Wednesday but the pilot survived, officials said.
The plane was fighting the fire in Chubut province in Patagonia region.
Firefighters found the pilot and took him to a hospital in El Hoyo tourist town, which was declared an emergency area because of its proximity to a burning hill, a forest official said.
The blaze has burned down about 100 hectares on the hill, he said.
Dozens of tourists camping in the area have been evacuated.
The drought in Patagonia has helped fires on both sides of the Argentina-Chile border to spread.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: argentina, blaze, buenos aires, burning hill, chile, dozens, drought, firefighters, fires, forest fire, hectares, hoyo, patagonia, pilot, plane crashes, proximity, tourist town, tourists