In 2011, about 17,000 hectares of the park were affected by a fire caused by a tourist from Israel who burnt toilet paper in the woods at the shore of Grey Lake. Thousands of animals died during these tragic events and all tourists were evacuated from the park.

The fires in the regions of Magallanes, Bio Bio and Maule have claimed one life — an elderly man who refused warnings to leave his home — according to the Associated Press, and burned about 90 square miles of forest.

More than 100 homes have been destroyed, and thousands of tourists normally visiting the famed Torres del Paine national park at this time of year had to stay away, resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

Chilean authorities, meantime, released Rotem Singer, the 23-year-old Israeli tourist suspected of causing the Torres del Paine fire.

According to the AP, Singer’s traveling companions said he set fire to toilet paper after going to the bathroom, and then failed to put it out completely.

But Haaretz reported that Singer admitted he had lit a bonfire in an area of the Torres del Paine park where such fires are prohibited.

Singer, who has protested his innocence, was released Sunday from custody to the village of Puerto Natales. His passport was confiscated and he is forbidden to leave the Patagonia region in southern Chile until his case is heard.

He is facing 60 days in prison and a $300 fine.

Chilean Environment Minister Maria Ignacia Benitez, meantime, said the government would sue any perpetrators.

https://theworld.org/stories/2012-01-02/fires-rage-across-southern-chile-israeli-backpacker-blamed

Some 27,200 acres (11,000 hectares) of woodland and scrub, nearly four percent of the total area of the park, has already been destroyed by the blaze, which more than quadrupled in size in less than 24 hours.

The Chilean government has deployed four planes and a helicopter to the remote mountainous region, where 300 firefighters, soldiers and forest rangers were engaged in a desperate effort to get the inferno under control.

https://nypost.com/2011/12/31/israeli-tourist-arrested-in-huge-patagonia-fire/

The government deployed four planes and a helicopter to the remote mountainous region, where 300 firefighters, soldiers and forest rangers continued to battle the blaze.

The fire, which began on Tuesday, advanced rapidly in dry conditions, forcing authorities to evacuate 700 people, mostly tourists, from the park, which is located about 3,000km south of Santiago.

The fire broke out on a path that goes by Lake Grey on the northwestern side of the park, officials said.

A drop in the wind speed and higher humidity on Saturday helped slow the fire’s rapid advance. It has so far destroyed nearly four per cent of the total area of the park, officials said.

Pinera pledged another 100 personnel would join crews on Saturday and said his government would seek “all necessary assistance” from other countries, having already contacted Argentina, Australia and the US.

Neighbouring Argentina, which has its own forests just across the border from Torres del Paine, has sent in emergency teams to help.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/1/1/chile-arrests-israeli-tourist-for-forest-fire

Authorities said on Wednesday that 171 homes and 28,300 hectares (69,900 acres) of land had been destroyed by fires there, while hundreds had been forced from their homes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/04/chile-fire-national-park-reopen

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