At least 51 dead, 3,000 houses burned and suspicions of intentionality: the brutal fire that plagues Chile

The serious forest fires that have hit the central-southern area of ​​Chile since Friday, but especially the Valparaíso region, have left at least 51 dead, as reported on Saturday night by the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, after the Closing of the meeting of the national Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid). Of the deceased, the Secretary of State said that 45 correspond to burned bodies that have been collected on public roads. Of them, only 18 have been identified. Added to these are six other people who have died in healthcare centers. “It is probably going to be the emergency situation, after the 2010 earthquake, that has generated the most victims in Chile in recent times,” said the Minister of the Interior, who announced that the number of deaths will continue to increase.

Tohá referred, as President Boric did before, in a message from La Moneda, to intentionality. On this point, the Minister of the Interior explained that they have proven evidence that, at least in the Las Tablas fire, in Viña del Mar, a city about 120 kilometers from Santiago, there were intentional outbreaks.

He stressed, in turn, that the four outbreaks in the region remain active, the most serious being the Las Tablas fire, which started in Peñuelas, where 9,600 hectares have already been consumed by the fire. In that sector, he reported, there are three points that could imply greater risks: to the east towards the Quilpué sector, to the west where it could affect some areas of Viña del Mar and to the north where it could affect areas of Reñaca and Concón if the flames break out. they extended.

These are residential neighborhoods where, the minister announced, combined patrols will be carried out during the night between officials of the Armed Forces and Carabineros to enforce the curfew, which began at 9:00 p.m. this Saturday in four communes in the region and which will last until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.

The Secretary of State pointed out that evacuations in some cases have been difficult, which has made the work of people working in the emergency difficult and has claimed human lives. In that sense, she called on the population to obey the signs to evacuate and said that law enforcement and security forces are allowed to act with force in case of resistance. “The call is to pay maximum attention, to report any suspicious activity and to collaborate with the instructions given by the authority,” the minister said.

Regarding the affected homes, Tohá mentioned that there is still no complete registry, but he explained that there are 16 affected villages (30% correspond to houses built by the Housing and Urban Planning Service, Serviu, and 70% to irregular lots and camps). ). On this point, the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, who led the regional Cogrid meeting, mentioned that according to preliminary figures there would be between 3,000 and 6,000 homes affected by the fire.

“In terms of human lives and loss of homes, it is the largest fire in the last decade,” said Monsalve, who announced that although it is expected that this Sunday the weather conditions may improve, the situation remains complex and “does not guarantee control of fires.”

An afternoon of tragedy

The Valparaíso region remains in a State of Disaster Exception, decreed by the Government on Friday. The flames have not let up. During the afternoon of this Saturday, new outbreaks have appeared, the flames have become uncontrollable and the firefighters are not able to combat the different sectors of the region where the fire threatens human lives, entire towns, houses and factories.

The high temperatures, added to strong winds, between 30 and up to 60 kilometers per hour, added to the lack of humidity, have made it difficult to contain the flames that were advancing rapidly, burning everything in their path.

“The emergency became very complicated,” said Viña del Mar Firefighters Commander Patricio Brito, who described the situation in the Viña del Mar commune as “chaos.” “We have several outbreaks, we are working at various points, but they do not give us the units to fight this large fire,” he said during the late afternoon hours.

Reinforcements from several fire companies from other regions of the country have arrived in Valparaíso to help contain the flames, although the situation remains critical, as confirmed by Brito, who said that they will work all night to contain the different outbreaks. “I don't want to alarm people, but we are experiencing a critical situation as a community. We have many burned houses plus factories,” he said.

The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service, Senapred, has announced evacuation alerts throughout the day in different areas of the region where the population is at risk of being hit by the flames. The alarms have reached the cell phones of people in the more than 30 locations where evacuations have been ordered.

The El Salto sector, an industrial area of ​​Viña del Mar, has become one of the focuses of greatest concern. The Tricolor paint factory was hit by flames and explosions were heard inside coming from flammable materials. The company reported that there were no people inside its facilities and that the collaborators were evacuated, according to reports. Third.

In addition to the brigades and firefighters, Senapred has managed 21 aircraft, also three from the Armed Forces and 68 from Conaf. And 52 evacuations have been carried out with messaging.

The stories of human tragedies multiply with the hours. In the Botanical Garden of Viña del Mar, where 90% of the facilities were consumed by flames, the death of a worker was reported, who died along with three of her relatives when they were in their home inside the garden. enclosure. Likewise, in Villa Independencia in the Achupallas sector in Viña del Mar, considered one of the epicenters of the fires, part of the 19 deaths reported in the morning hours were concentrated.

Intentionality

Undersecretary Monsalve pointed out, after the Cogrid meeting, that regarding the expertise carried out in the particular case of the Peñuelas fire in the Las Tablas complex, “the information is that it began with four simultaneous outbreaks, so there is a possibility that whether the start of this fire was intentional is high.” He added that the Government is going to become part of these cases through lawsuits in order to clarify responsibilities.

The regional prosecutor of Valparaíso, Claudia Perivancich, pointed out that since Friday the Investigative Police through the Environmental Crimes Brigade have been investigating the outbreaks to analyze whether there was intentionality.

As reported by President Boric, this Sunday the Minister of Defense, Maya Fernández – who returned to Chile from her vacation due to the tragedy – will be established in the affected area as minister of liaison with the Government. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Nicolás Cataldo, will be in charge of reviewing the situation of the shelters that have been set up in the region to care for those affected by the tragedy who have had to evacuate or who have lost their homes due to the effect of the flames. .

For his part, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, will provide this Sunday details of the resources available to continue fighting the fire and rebuild. “There is no doubt that there will be no shortage of resources to deal with this emergency,” Boric said in a speech from La Moneda after flying over the catastrophe.

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