Some 250 firefighters and national park employees battled blazes Friday in Argentina's Patagonia region which have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, authorities said.

Fires are raging in high-altitude, little populated forest areas of the southern provinces of Rio Negro, Chubut and Neuquen.

Some are as much as 300 kilometers (200 miles) apart. No casualties have been reported, and no evacuations ordered.

Smoke from a fire in Paraje Villegas, Rio Negro province
Smoke from a fire in Paraje Villegas, Rio Negro province AFP / Francisco RAMOS MEJIA

Argentina's environment ministry said the firefighting effort was complicated by difficult terrain, distances between blazes, wind, high temperatures and dry vegetation in the midst of a drought.

Fires in the Patagonian summer are a common occurrence.

Last year, tens of thousands of hectares of forest were destroyed in fires in Argentina.