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Recent mega wildfires in Chile have been deadlier than usual due to prolonged climate extremes, including a more than 15-year drought and record-breaking summer temperatures. But in addition to this, many of the houses that were burned were in areas that could not be inhabited, since they were part of areas designated as fire corridors. Were there errors in urban planning? We analyze it in this edition of El Debate.
Chile is facing a devastating wave of forest fires that has already claimed more than a hundred lives, marking one of the deadliest disasters in the country's history. The severity of the situation is such that the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, has compared this emergency to the tragic earthquake of 2010, this being the only disaster that has caused more human losses.
The fires have been concentrated mainly in the central-southern area of the country, although the Valparaíso region has been especially affected with the largest number of hectares consumed by the fire.
In addition, fires have been recorded in other areas such as O'Higgins, La Araucanía and Biobío. The total balance so far exceeds 50,000 hectares devastated and more than 15,000 homes have been damaged by the flames. What happened to make these fires so deadly? We address it with our guests:
– Gabriela Azócar, doctor in Sociology, researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Science and academic at the University of Chile.
– Miguel Castillo, director of the Forest Fire Engineering Laboratory of the University of Chile.
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