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. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementPresident Javier Milei's spokesman Manuel Adorni said a state of emergency would take effect in Chubut, Rio Negro, Neuquen and La Pampa provinces of Patagonia on Friday. Los Alerces National Park, a vast reserve of pristine forest and glacial lakes, has been among the worst-affected areas. "Today, the weather conditions helped," Manuel, a volunteer firefighter in the Chubut town of Cholila, which is threatened by flames, confirmed.