Reporting
Fires in Chile: Rangers prepare the forest to contain the advance of the flames
Audio 01:21
A fire ravages the forest of Santa Juana, in the Biobio region, on February 8, 2023. © JAVIER TORRES / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Chile has been fighting the fires ravaging the center and south of the country for a week now.
A curfew was introduced Thursday, February 9 in the evening in the three most affected regions.
And the government has decreed that mechanical devices as well as water could be requisitioned if necessary.
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With our special correspondent in Santa Juana,
Naïla Derroisné
The country is struggling to control the fires which have increased by 50% in one day.
In Santa Juana, in the Biobio region, the fire has ravaged 70% of the territory and several outbreaks are still active, firefighters and forest agents are preparing the forests to contain the advance of the flames.
“
We are building a preventive firewall to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas
.
»
Sebastian, face black as ash, is a forestry officer, he manages a team of about twenty people and Mexican soldiers who have come to lend a hand.
“
The problem is that there is far too much vegetation, if you go into this ravine it can be dangerous.
And in addition, there is flammable waste falling on us because of the fire upstream.
»
Without air support, "
we fight the old way
"
A little further down the road, other officers are preparing a second firewall, armed with shovels and chainsaws.
“
We will not be able to completely stop the fire, but at least we will protect the homes
, explains Helios Pujol, chief of operations on the Santa Juana fire.
Here, it is the mountain, it is the cordillera of the coast.
It's very steep!
We cannot work with mechanical devices.
»
And the smoke from the fires too, extremely dense in this sector, makes it impossible to use planes and helicopters.
“
We fight the old way, like 100 years ago, without air support,
” laments Helios Pujol
.
As for the water bomber plane, Ten Tanker, lent by the Americans, it was grounded for the second time in a few days due to a mechanical breakdown.
Provisional report of the fires
The flames, which have left at least 24 dead and some 2,196 injured for a week, have devastated more than 343,000 hectares in the regions of Nuble, Biobio, La Araucania, but also Maule, an area equivalent to a third of the territory. Puerto Rican Caribbean American.
In one week, the wave of fires destroyed 1,205 homes and left 5,570 people homeless, according to the latest official report.
Twenty people were arrested for their alleged responsibility in starting the fires.
(
With
AFP)
► To read also: Fires in Chile: highly flammable pine and eucalyptus crops
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Chile
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