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Chile: why were the fires so rapid and deadly?
The human toll of the violent forest fires which ravaged several municipalities in Greater Valparaiso, in central Chile, continues to increase. According to President Gabriel Boric, it is “
the greatest tragedy
” that the South American country has experienced since the 2010 earthquake. Why did the flames spread so quickly? How did this fire become one of the deadliest of the 21st century? Here are some explanations and satellite images to help you understand.
Satellite images of the Viña del Mar area, dated February 3, 2024, show the extent of the burned areas. © Planet Labs PBC
By: Olivier Fourt Follow | Lucile Gimberg Follow | Grégory Genevrier Follow
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On Friday, February 2, several fires broke out simultaneously in forest areas located on the hills overlooking the seaside resorts of the Greater Valparaiso region. It is on the Pacific coast about 120 km northwest of the capital Santiago. The ongoing investigation will have to determine the causes of these fire outbreaks but one thing is certain: the flames advanced very quickly, as shown by the satellite maps on the NASA Firms website from February 3 to 5, 2024.
Firms provides fire data with a turnaround time of just a few hours, using spectroradiometers and satellite imagery in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared ranges. In the image, the red squares symbolize heat sources. Several distinct outbreaks are thus observable from the early hours of Friday.
The propagation of hot spots seen from space with NASA's Firms tool. © Screenshots Firms Nasa/ RFI Montage
The weather conditions were favorable for the spread of the flames. Since last week, Chile has been experiencing a heat wave with temperatures close to 40°. In this area with a Mediterranean climate, there was little humidity and the winds were strong.
“
In this region, it is hot and we have an ocean wind that rises after midday when temperatures rise
,” specifies Miguel Castillo, geographer and forestry engineer from the Faculty of Forestry Sciences at the University of Chile.
On Friday, we had gusts of over 35-40 km/h. In these conditions, if the fire is not contained within fifteen minutes, it turns into a tragedy and that is what happened
.
”
Satellite images of the Valparaiso region, obtained by RFI from the commercial company Planet Labs, show the fire zone before and after the flames passed. We can clearly see the columns of smoke rising above the different homes for the day of February 3.
Thanks to a fleet of small satellites, Planet Labs aims to document changes resulting in particular from climate change and human activity on earth. © Planet Labs PBC
“False color” images
also highlight areas ravaged by fire, using a brown/red contrast.
“False color” satellite images highlight areas ravaged by flames. © Planet Labs PBC
Not just eucalyptus
In Chile, forest fires are frequent during the summer period – we are in the middle of summer in southern Latin America – particularly in the south of the country where immense pine and eucalyptus plantations extend. Monocultures are often singled out for their role in drying out soils and spreading fires. In the Valparaiso region, the vegetation is more diverse, says Miguel Castillo.
“
Here, houses built from light materials, waste, scrub, pastures and local and exotic trees intermingle,”
he explains.
“It’s true that the eucalyptus sends out a lot of “pavesas” when it burns, these are these small incandescent fragments of vegetation which are transported by the hot wind and can fall hundreds of meters and give birth to others homes. But these “pavesas” can also come from garbage, from paper for example
.”
Firestorms
The organization in charge of forest management in Chile, CONAF, spoke of a fire with “extreme behavior”.
“This kind of fire generates its own micro weather, that is to say fire storms, thermal belts of air which rise and displace cold air
,” adds Miguel Castillo. This generates real whirlwinds of fire and makes the fire almost uncontrollable from the start. Especially since on the ground, a lot of dry vegetation was ready to burn.
“
We have experienced these kinds of fires in the past but now they are more frequent
,”
said the scientist.
Does climate change have an influence?
“
It’s the glue that holds it all together ,
”
says the researcher.
“
Apart from last year when it rained a lot, we have years and years of drought here. In central Chile, we have broken the record for the number of days above 30° and the historical maximums are regularly exceeded
,” lists Miguel Castillo. The natural climatic phenomenon El Niño, which originates in the Pacific Ocean and causes drought and floods depending on the region, has also worsened due to global warming.
VIDEO: Aftermath of a wildfire in Villa Independencia, as the death toll of the forest fires in Chile rises to 112 people, and 40 active outbreaks are being battled, the Ministry of the Interior reported. pic.twitter.com/MjQ3UKQAZ8
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 5, 2024
An informal habitat that has become a trap
But there is another important factor in understanding why these fires have caused so many victims: it is the precarious and chaotic urbanization of these hills on the outskirts of the seaside resorts of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso.
Many of the neighborhoods that were ravaged by the flames, for example in Viña del Mar, are very densely populated areas. There are middle-class families who have built permanently and some of the poorest families who have settled without authorization and built precarious houses using wood and zinc. For some
“
in sectors which were to serve as firebreaks
”
, underlines Miguel Castillo. In the ravines which mark these hills plunging towards the Pacific, the brush and wild micro-dumps constitute an ideal fuel. And the flames accelerate up the slopes, fanned by the wind rushing between the slopes.
Did residents follow the evacuation orders, sent by text message, to the letter? It's never easy to leave everything behind. Many had difficulty communicating with loved ones as mobile phone lines were cut when the fire reached antennas. Cars exploded from the heat. And in these neighborhoods with informal and anarchic development, the routes to escape are few.
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