| 1967 Rio Doce State Park wildfire | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | September 1967 - October 1967 |
| Location | Rio Doce State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Coordinates | 19°39′00″S 42°32′02″W / 19.65000°S 42.53389°W |
| Statistics | |
| Total area | 9,000 ha |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 12 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 1 |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Unknown |
The 1967 Rio Doce State Park wildfire was a major forest fire that occurred in the Rio Doce Valley, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the 1960s. The Rio Doce State Park (Parque Estadual do Rio Doce - PERD), considered to be the largest Atlantic Forest reserve in the state, has 35,976 hectares (ha) according to 2019 data[1] - information prior to the fire stated that there were 30,000 hectares[2][3] - distributed between the municipalities of Dionísio, Marliéria and Timóteo. It was created in 1944.
In mid-September 1967, during a prolonged drought, a fire of unknown causes was started in the park that lasted over a month and consumed 9,000 hectares of the reserve, managed by the State Forestry Institute (Instituto Estadual de Florestas - IEF).[4] Twelve people died in fighting the flames, after fighters led by Sergeant Agenor Almeida Costa were surrounded by a line of fire on October 18, near the Dom Helvécio Lagoon. It is therefore the second largest forest fire in Brazil in number of fatalities, second only to the fire in Paraná in 1963, which left 110 dead.[5][6]
The fire was brought under control on October 24 after about 30 kilometers (km) of firebreaks were opened, but fires remained active for at least another week. Plantations in the vicinity and some homes were also affected. Despite the size of the native forest destroyed, the reserve's forests have not suffered another major fire and this has allowed the vegetation and soil to regenerate naturally.