Chile forest fires death toll jumps to 46, likely to keep rising
By Diego Ore for Reuters
Aerial view of burned houses in Quilpe, Chile after a forest fire.
Photo: RODRIGO ARANGUA / AFP
Forest fires raging in central Chile have killed at least 46 people, says President Gabriel Boric, warning that the death toll is likely to keep rising.
Black smoke billowed into the sky over many parts of the Valparaiso region, home to nearly one million inhabitants in central Chile, while firefighters using helicopters and trucks struggled to quell the flames.
Areas around the coastal tourist city of Viña del Mar have been some of the hardest hit and rescue teams were struggling to reach all the affected areas, Chilean authorities said on Saturday.
Boric, giving an update to the nation, said 40 people were killed in the fires and another six died from burns in hospitals.
"Given the conditions of the tragedy, the number of victims is sure to increase over the next few hours," Boric said.
"The situation is really very difficult."
The death toll means this is the deadliest outbreak of forest fires in Chile in the past decade, Chilean disaster agency Senapred said.
Throughout the country there were 92 active fires, leaving more than 43,000 hectares affected by the incident, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said earlier in the day when she reported 19 dead.
Wildfires are not uncommon in Chile over summer months and last year, on the back of a record heat wave, some 27 people died and more than 400,000 hectares were affected.
"The area with fires today is much smaller than last year (but) at this time the number of hectares affected is multiplying very rapidly," Toha said.
Between Friday and Saturday the hectares impacted by the wildfires increased from 30,000 to 43,000.
Toha said that the authorities' greatest concern was that some of the active fires were developing very close to urban areas "with the very high potential to affect people, homes and facilities".
46 reported dead in Chile as fires move into densely populated areas
Authorities urged thousands of people in the Valpariaso region to evacuate their homes. Chile's interior minister says 92 forest fires are burning.
A woman cries after losing a friend who died after a forest fire reached the Villa Independencia neighborhood in Vina del Mar, Chile.
AP Photo/ Esteban Felix
Intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have caused at least 46 deaths, Chile's president said Saturday evening, and officials said at least 1,100 homes had been destroyed.
In a nationally televised address, President Gabriel Boric warned that the death toll could worsen as four large fires burn in the region of Valparaiso, where firefighters have struggled to reach the most threatened neighborhoods.
Boric urged Chileans to cooperate with rescue workers.
"If you are told to evacuate don't hesitate to do it," he said. "The fires are advancing fast and climatic conditions have made them difficult to control. There are high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity."
Interior Minister Carolina Tohá said earlier Saturday that 92 forest fires were burning in the center and south of the country, where temperatures have been unusually high this week.
The deadliest of the fires were in the Valparaíso region, where authorities urged thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
In areas farther away from the fires, meanwhile, residents were told to stay at home so that fire engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles can get about on the roads with greater ease.
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Tohá said two fires near the towns of Quilpué and Villa Alemana had burned through at least 19,770 acres since Friday. One of the fires was threatening the coastal resort town of Viña del Mar, where some neighborhoods had already been hit hard.
In Villa Independencia, a hillside neighborhood on the eastern edge of the town, several blocks of homes and businesses were destroyed. Burned cars with broken windows lined the streets, which were covered in ash.
"I've been here 32 years, and never imagined this would happen," said Rolando Fernández, one of the residents who lost his home.
He said he first saw the fire burning on a nearby hill Friday afternoon and within 15 minutes the area was engulfed in flames and smoke, forcing everyone to run for their lives.
"I've worked my whole life, and now I'm left with nothing," Fernández said.
Three shelters were set up in the Valparaíso region, and 19 helicopters and more than 450 firefighters were brought into the area to help battle the blazes, Tohá said.
The fires were burning on mountains that are hard to reach, such as neighborhoods built precariously on the edge of Viña del Mar.
Officials reported power blackouts as a result of the fire, and Tohá said that in the Valparaíso region, four hospitals and three nursing homes for the elderly had to be evacuated. The fire also destroyed two bus terminals, the interior minister said.
The El Niño weather pattern has caused droughts and hotter than usual temperatures along the west of South America this year, increasing the risk of forest fires. In January, more than 42,000 acres of forests were destroyed in Colombia by fires that followed several weeks of dry weather.
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