At least 46 people died in the forest fires that raging in Chileas announced by the country's president, Gabriel Borich, warning that the number of victims is only temporary.
After a break, fires reignited in the tourist province of Valparaisowhere the famous spa town of Viña del Mar is located, the beaches of which attract a lot of people in this period of the southern hemisphere summer, in the middle of heat waves.
The flames only charred areas of almost 430,000 hectares yesterdaymainly on the coast of the country in the Pacific Ocean, informed the Minister of the Interior Carolina Toa.
“Forty people died because of the fires, another six (succumbed) because of the burns” that they suffered, for his part, President Boric told the press, after flying over the affected area by helicopter. “We know these (numbers) will increase”he emphasized. “The situation is very difficult.”
It is an “unprecedented disaster”, Valparaiso has “never experienced” fires “of this magnitude”, stressed Macarena Ripamondi, the mayor of Viña del Mar, which is suffering a heavy blow.
Strong winds fueled the flamesa veil of black smoke covered the streets, while repeated explosions were heard, AFP journalists found.
The authorities imposed curfew from 21:00 (local time; 02:00 Greek time), among other things to facilitate the supply of fuel to forces fighting to control the fires, which was a “priority,” according to Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve.
Authorities issued new appeals to residents to urgently leave areaswithout being able to ascertain exactly how many have remained in houses threatened by the fiery blaze.
A total of 92 fires were classified as active yesterday Saturday afternoon, of which 40 were considered under control, mainly in Valparaiso County, as well as in areas in the central and southern parts of the country, according to the Interior Ministry.
“It was hell, it was raining ash”
In the hills of the city of Valparaiso, where carcasses of hundreds of charred cars lay in the streets, thousands of citizens found their houses burned yesterday morning.
Pensioner Luis Vial, 69, could not hold back tears in front of the remains of his home in Villa Independencia, where 19 victims were found. “Within a minute, we lost everything,” he said.
“It was hell, the explosions (…) I was trying to help my neighbor put out the fire in his car, behind my house was starting to burn. It was raining ash”said Rodrigo Pulgar, a driver, who also lost his home in El Olivar, an area where the damage is one of the most extensive.
Firefighters have been fighting breathlessly since yesterday Friday to contain dozens of fires in the provinces of Valparaiso and O'Higgins, in central Chile, as well as in Maule, Biobio, La Araucania and Los Lagos (south).
According to Interior Minister Toa, “the priority is the fires in Valparaiso” because they are raging “a short distance from urban areas”.
The affected areas, from 80 to 120 kilometers northwest of the capital Santiago, are full of businesses, wine-producing, agricultural, forestry farms…
President Borich declared a state of emergency the day before yesterday, in order to provide “all the necessary means” before the spread of the fires. Fourteen ships and five helicopters have been mobilized as part of the operations.
“Rain of Burning Ashes”
“We got an emergency alert on our cellphones and it started raining burning ash.”Yvonne Guzmán told AFP earlier by phone.
The 63-year-old, who fled her home in Quilpué, a town 90 kilometers northeast of Santiago, was trapped for hours in her car with her 90-year-old mother-in-law, as were a large number of people desperately trying to escape the flames.
As of Wednesday, the temperature is hovering around 40°C in central Chile and the capital Santiago.
“These episodes are increasingly recurring, which is why we're seeing record temperatures every year.”Pablo Lobos, responsible for fire protection at the country's forest service (CONAF), told the CNN affiliate in Chile.
The heat wave is characterized as a consequence of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which is currently affecting the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of the summer season, causing forest fires that are exacerbated by climate change.
Last year, the fires that hit the Chile in the summer they claimed the lives of 27 people, and then in the middle of a heat wave with record-breaking temperatures.
After Chile and Colombia, heat waves are expected to hit Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.
Source: News Beast
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