RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Fire raged through a national park
in southwestern Brazil and destroyed 11,000 acres of wetlands
vegetation, firefighters said Monday.
The fire began Saturday at Ilha Grande National Park, a
195,000-acre preserve between the states of Parana and Mato Grosso
do Sul, park worker Marcia da Silva Ferreira said by telephone.
Firefighters and environmental officials had the blaze under
control on Monday, Ferreira said. The cause of the fire wasn't
known, but park officials suspected arson, she said.
Last week, firefighters contained a weeklong blaze that
destroyed nearly 50,000 acres in Varzea de Ivinhema State Park,
also in Mato Grosso do Sul state.
Some 2,650 fires this year in Mato Grosso do Sul have been
blamed on exceptionally dry weather.

APTV 08-19-02 1428EDT