On Saturday, at least 19 people were confirmed dead in the Chilean wildfires. Finn Eeva Rajakangas got stuck in the city, which is located near the fire area.
Finn Eeva Rajakangas was driving from the city of Los Molles in Chile to Pichilemu, which is about 350 kilometers away, on Friday, when the queue of cars driving in the opposite direction turned into a hose. Soon the air began to fill with smoke and he saw fire on the horizon.
People from opposite cars motioned for him to turn as well.
“I made awkward turns and started driving only in one direction. In the end, I spent six hours in lines of cars that didn't move anywhere,” says Rajakangas.
In places, the air was so thick with smoke that sometimes it was dark outside, even though the sun hadn't set yet.
“The sun shone red through the smoke,” describes Rajakangas.
“The sun shone red through the smoke,” Rajakangas describes the situation on his drive on Friday.
Rajakangas says he was stuck in traffic queues for six hours on Friday. The roads were congested as people fled the wildfires that started on Friday. Some roads were also closed.
At least 19 people have died in the wildfires in Chile that started on Friday, the interior minister said Carolina Tohá Saturday morning local time, according to news agency AFP. The death toll is believed to increase.
Wildfires are spreading in the Valparaíso region. On Saturday morning, there were fire outbreaks in nearly a hundred places in the area, and 43,000 hectares of terrain had burned.
On Saturday, the authorities issued an evacuation order to several municipalities in the Valparaíso region. The roads have been blocked by residents fleeing the city.
Stuck in traffic, Rajakangas found a place to sleep on Friday evening with the help of friends in Limache, which is located about 30 kilometers from the port city of Valparaíso.
He heard from his acquaintances that in Pichilemu, where he was originally on his way, the electricity was cut off due to fires.
On Saturday the smell of smoke was still in the air in Limache, where Rajakangas was waiting for more information about the situation from the authorities.
On Saturday, the authorities imposed a curfew in Limache in order to facilitate the evacuations in the surrounding areas.
Originally, the ban was supposed to last only in the morning, but later Rajakangas was informed that the ban was extended.
“The flight to Finland should leave Santiago on Monday. Since the roads have been closed, it is still uncertain how I will get to the airport,” says Rajakangas.
On Friday, for example, the road between Valparaíso and the country's capital, Santiago de Chile, was closed due to fires. On Friday, Rajakangas himself witnessed a situation where bushes were on fire right next to the highway.
Chilean the wildfires are the result of the heat wave and drought affecting South America. In addition to Chile and Colombia, the high temperatures resulting from the El Niño weather phenomenon also threaten Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.
Rajakangas works as a climate activist in Finland. He is in Chile meeting local climate activists. For him, the fires are a sign that climate action is needed.
“If someone is upset that the traffic is congested for half an hour because of the Elokapinna, then you can only compare it to what it would be like to be stuck for hours because of a real forest fire.”
Burnt houses in the Valparaíso district of the city of Viña del Mar on Saturday.
Correction 3.2. 19:04: A curfew was imposed on Limache on Saturday. Earlier, the article incorrectly talked about the ban on leaving the city.
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