Entire neighborhoods devastated, charred cars, nearly 26,000 hectares gone up in smoke... Some 400 firefighters and 1,300 soldiers and volunteers are preparing, Monday February 5, to fight for the fourth consecutive day against dozens of fires in central and southern Chile, according to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
“We must say, with the information received from the forensic service that there are 112 people killed, 32 bodies identified,” declared Sunday evening Manuel Monsalve, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, during a a press conference, specifying that the firefighters were still fighting against around forty active outbreaks.
The previous toll given by the Forensic Medicine Service (SML) was 99 dead.
“This figure will increase, we know that it will increase significantly,” President Gabriel Boric warned earlier on Sunday during a trip to Quilpué, located on the outskirts of Viña del Mar in the Valparaiso region where All deaths were counted.
In Viña del Mar, in the Chilean region of Valparaíso, residents clean the rubble of burned houses, February 4, 2024. © Cristobal Basaure, AP
“Carabineros” pass in front of burned vehicles after a forest fire in Quilpué, February 4, 2024. © Rodrigo Arangua, AFP
The mayor of the resort town of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ripamonti, and the governor of the Valparaíso region, Rodrigo Mundaca, said several hundred people were missing.
“This is the biggest tragedy we have experienced since the 2010 earthquake,” said Gabriel Boric, referring to the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that was followed by a tsunami on February 27, 2010, and which left more than 500 dead.
In order to limit traffic in the affected areas "and to facilitate rescue operations for victims and recovery of the dead", a new curfew was established in four municipalities of Valparaiso, from 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. GMT) to 10 a.m. local time Monday (1 p.m. GMT).
#Araucanía: Ante emergencia forestal en #Galvarino, Carabineros 1ª Comisaría COP #Temuco apoyan con carro lanza agua a equipos de emergencia en el control y extinguishing de focos de incendio en rutas cercanas a la commune. #OrdenyPatria pic.twitter.com/ZbDKeXl6IZ
— Carabineros Región de La Araucanía (@CarabAraucania) February 5, 2024
Extreme heat waves
On Friday, several fires broke out simultaneously in the mountains overlooking the resort town of Viña del Mar and other places in the Valparaiso region, about 120 km north of the capital Santiago.
Vehicles and houses are devastated by flames in Viña del Mar, Chile, February 2, 2024. © Javier Torres, AFP
Chile, in the middle of the southern summer, has been experiencing a heat wave since last week, with temperatures reaching 40°C.
This heatwave resulting from the El Nino climatic phenomenon is currently affecting the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of summer, causing forest fires worsened by global warming. After Chile and Colombia, the heat wave threatens Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.
Also readClimate: 2023, year of an El Nino or a Super El Nino?
The weather conditions of the last few hours seem more favorable, said Interior Minister Carolina Toha, describing a phenomenon typical of the Pacific coast that produces lots of clouds, high humidity and therefore lower temperatures.
“Current conditions are more conducive to treating victims and controlling fires,” she added.
Two people hug each other as residents clear fire damage in Villa Independencia, Valparaiso region, Chile, February 4, 2024. © Javier Torres, AFP
Houses and vehicles reduced to ashes in Quilpué, Viña del Mar, after the forest fires in Chile, February 4, 2024. © Rodrigo Arangua, AFP
The Las Tablas fire, the largest in the Valparaiso region, is still active and “covers a perimeter of 80 km,” said Carolina Toha.
Some 1,400 firefighters and 1,300 soldiers and volunteers, supported by 31 helicopters and water-throwing planes, are mobilized to fight the flames.
President Gabriel Boric, who, in almost two years in power, increased the budget devoted to fire prevention and fighting by 47%, declared a state of emergency in order to mobilize as many resources as possible. .
Chilean President Gabriel Boric visits people affected by the fires at the Gustavo Fricke hospital in Viña del Mar, Chile, February 4, 2024. © Marcelo Segura, AFP
In certain areas of Valparaiso, a curfew has been established in order to free the roads, to allow the rapid passage of emergency vehicles or to facilitate evacuations.
“The possibility that these fires were intentional is under investigation,” the president said Saturday.
With AFP
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