Violent forest fires in Chile: state of exception declared. A provisional report suggests around ten deaths.
Firefighters have been fighting tirelessly since February 2 against around ten homes in the regions of Valparaíso and O'Higgins. Since Wednesday January 31, the temperature has been close to 40 degrees in central Chile and the capital Santiago. This heatwave resulting from the El Niño climatic phenomenon is currently affecting the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of summer, causing forest fires worsened by global warming.