Official says 160,000 acres of national park were burned

By STAN LEHMAN

SAO PAULO (AP) — Firefighters in Brazil have mostly controlled a wildfire that has destroyed more than a quarter of a national park in the central state of Goias.

Brazil’s Environment Ministry says nearly 160,000 acres of the 595,000-acre Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park has burned since it began Oct. 10.

A press officer from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation said by telephone Friday that the fire is expected to be extinguished within the next two or three days. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the press.

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