This is how the fires caused one of the worst tragedies in the history of Chile

When summer arrives in the south of the American continent, Chile activates alerts for forest fires in different areas of the country. Almost every year, the Valparaíso region, located in the center of the country, is affected and this year was not expected to be the exception. But, no one imagined the dimension.

Since the first days of February, the fires began to spread. The fatalities now amount to more than 130, with dozens of people still missing, and the material losses are incalculable.

“This is the greatest tragedy that we have experienced as a country since the earthquake of February 27, 2010,” said the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, on February 4, from the town of Quilpué, one of the most affected. by the fire in Valparaíso.

The flames broke out on the morning of Friday, February 2, and spread quickly due to the high and extraordinary temperatures that the region experienced, which, according to the Chilean Meteorological Directorate, exceeded 37°C. In addition, the intense gusts of wind, which reached 60 kilometers per hour, together with low humidity, led to the perfect setting for tragedy to unfold.

The last major fire in Valparaíso was in 2019, during the second term of the right-wing Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022), who died on February 6. That catastrophe affected more than 200 homes and consumed more than 150 hectares of vegetation, according to official data.

An intentional fire or an exceptional weather event?

“My dad lived in that house 365 days a year and now I don't know what we are going to do. Here there was only one house, my father's, and nothing was left,” a resident of the Valparaíso region told the Chilean media. DNA.

The flames significantly affected the surrounding hills of Viña del Mar, a coastal tourist city in the Valparaíso region, where numerous precarious homes are also found.

These residential areas are distributed in narrow streets that, in the early hours of Saturday, February 3, were transformed into true labyrinths due to fire and smoke.

The authorities do not rule out that the start of the fires was intentional. “We don't know if they are organized groups or arsonists, That will have to be determined by justice,” denounced Rodrigo Mundaca, governor of Valparaíso.

However, experts point out that there are several causes that can lead to and enhance forest fires in this area of ​​the country.

Valparaíso is a region rich in vegetation, but semi-aridor what experts call 'sclerophyllous forests', with copious native flora.

Jennifer Valpreda, executive director of the Association of Forest Engineers of Chile, tells France 24 in Spanish that eucalyptus and pine trees also abound in that sector of the country. In addition to this, it is a very mountainous and steep area. Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and Quilpué are characterized by the presence of many hills and mountains.

“The fire spread very quickly for several reasons, one is that the fire originated in forest lands, where fires generally occur every year, but this particular one began to consume many hectares of plantations and was combined with the factor of high temperatures,” explains Valpreda.

In contrast to what was stated by the regional governor, the expert Aníbal Pauchard, director of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity of the University of Concepción, emphasizes that what happened in the Valparaíso region occurred in a context of an exceptional weather event.

“These fires were related to very high temperatures, associated with several days of heat. This meant that the vegetation was very dry, there was very low humidity and a lot of wind, which is what caused this fire to spread very quickly,” Pauchard explains to France 24.

The trigger: a perfect storm

The combination of the geography of the place and the vegetation favored the dispersion of forest fires.

“The vegetation of the area, with the presence of native species, also has many invasive species, weeds and even invasive trees, which are in that territory and generate a lot of flammable fuel. That's what burns,” says Pauchard.

Added to that, says Valpreda, “this region is a densely populated area. After Santiago and the Metropolitan Region, Valparaíso is one of the largest urban centers in the country.”

37:01

Furthermore, the expert talks about the 30-30-30 factor, that is, the combination of temperatures above 30°C, added to humidity percentages less than 30% and winds of more than 30 kilometers per hour. “There was a perfect combination that caused the fire to reach a high temperature. The fire alone generated a kind of hurricane, it was very aggressive and spread very quickly,” he adds.

To complete, the homes themselves became a combustible material that led to the fire quickly spreading across the land.

In this regard, Pauchard points to the lack of urban planning: “the design of the city unfortunately has not contemplated adequate territorial planning. It is a terrible recipe, because there are, on the one hand, ignition sources caused by human activity; then, an extreme, very dry weather event; and, finally, a lot of invasive vegetation that is also flammable.”

The role of the climate crisis in this disaster

The climate crisis is one of the main factors that is creating the perfect scenario for these catastrophes to occur.

“This year we have suffered, mainly in the central and southern part of the country, a heat wave that we have never seen before,” details Valpreda, adding that temperatures have been recorded above 37°C in the center of Chile.

In addition to the high temperatures, the extensive droughts of previous years caused the death of much vegetation, which favors the spread of fires.

For the director of the Association of Forest Engineers of Chile, one of the best public policies is to promote territorial planning measures in the affected areas. “It is necessary to regulate this entire rural-urban interface, that is, to mark how far the populated centers go. At the same time, demarcate what type of vegetation can be established and at what distance from urban areas,” says the expert.

“We cannot have very dry vegetation, nor tall vegetation in areas very close to towns, because they are areas that are heavily traveled, so the probability of a fire is very high, whether intentional or due to some negligence,” he adds.

Finally, he defends that connection and work with the community is necessary: “The population has to be trained, their coordination and governance in their own territories must be facilitated.”. “They – the citizens – must be able to act as an early warning and as a first attack on these forest fire outbreaks.”