Sat Mar 1, [YEAR?] 3:48 PM ET
AP World General News
http://www.ap.com

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A weeklong fire has destroyed 3,000 square kilometers (1,170 square miles) of Amazon forest and threatens to engulf local indigenous communities, authorities said Saturday.

The fire started on Monday in the Barcelos region some 1,800 miles (2,895 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo and is closing in on the village of Santa Rita, where 100 families live, according to a statement by federal environment institute IBAMA.

The government's US$1.4 billion state-of-the-art radar system, Sivam, launched with much fanfare in July 2002, has detected the fire is burning on at least 10 fronts.

Workers from Ibama and the local fire corps are fighting the fire with help from military helicopters and planes equipped to fight forest fires. Specialist teams across the country have been put on alert.