VALPARAÍSO, Chile – Fast-moving wildfires in Chile’s popular tourist region of Valparaíso have claimed the lives of more than a dozen people, and there are concerns that the death toll may rise further.
Large columns of smoke could be seen Friday from different parts of the country stretching along South America‘s western edge as the forest fire has destroyed more than 1,100 homes.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha told reporters on Saturday that at least 19 people had died, and the toll is likely to increase as responders have not yet been able to reach some affected areas, the Associated Press reported. Currently, 92 forest fires are burning in the central and southern parts of the country.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric has declared a state of emergency, as teams meet Saturday to assess the situation. Firefighting and rescue efforts continue around the clock as more than 30,000 acres have burned, according to Google satellite sources.
“We will have all the technical and human resources to fight forest fires because the priority is always the safety of families,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “We won’t leave you alone!”
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Chile’s emergency response agency, the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention (SENAPRED), issued a red alert and ordered the evacuation of at least 18 towns in the area, including the municipalities of Navidad, San Pedro, San Pablo and Puerto Montt. This emergency has impacted a state-protected forest reserve where more than 15,000 acres have been burned inside the Lago Peñuelas National Reserve.
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According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 74 people were rescued from 19 homes in Puerto Montt, which suffered the most damage from the wildfire, burning nearly 1,700 acres. Three individuals sustained injuries as a result of incidents related to the wildfire.
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Isa Carcif shot a video on a mountain highway between Viña del Mar and Quilpué showing flames consuming large areas of vegetation.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Yvonne Guzman told the AFP. When the fire approached her home in Quilpué, she fled with her elderly mother but got stuck in traffic for hours.
“It’s very distressing because we’ve evacuated the house, but we can’t move forward,” she said. “There are all these people trying to get out and who can’t move.”
Fire officials have forecast high to extreme fire danger in central Chile, including already affected regions, over the next 24 hours.