VINA DEL MAR, Chile (AP) — Intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have caused at least 46 deaths, Chile’s president said Saturday evening, and officials said at least 1,100 homes had been destroyed.
In a nationally televised address, President Gabriel Boric warned that the death toll could rise to four major fires in the Valparaiso region, where firefighters have struggled to reach the most threatened neighborhoods.
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Boric suggested Chileans cooperate with rescuers.
“If they tell you to evacuate, don’t hesitate to do it,” he said. “The fires are progressing and the weather conditions make it difficult to control them. There are maximum temperatures, strong winds, and low humidity.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha said earlier Saturday that 92 forest fires were burning in the center and south of the country, where temperatures have been unusually high this week.
The deadliest fires broke out in the Valparaiso region, where the government suggested thousands of people evacuate their homes.
Meanwhile, citizens in areas furthest from the fires have been asked to stay home so that fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles can travel more smoothly on the roads.
Toha said two fires near the towns of Quilpue and Villa Alemana had burned at least 8,000 hectares (19,770 acres) since Friday. One of the fires threatened the beach hotel in Viña del Mar, some of whose neighborhoods had already been hit hard.
In Villa Indepfinishencia, a hillside community on the eastern edge of town, several blocks and businesses were destroyed. Burned-out cars with broken windows littered the ash-covered streets.
“I’ve been here for 32 years and I imagined this would happen,” said Rolando Fernandez, one of the citizens who lost his home.
He said he first saw the chimney burning on a nearby hillside Friday afternoon and that in less than 15 minutes the domain was engulfed in flames and smoke, forcing everyone to run for their lives.
“I’ve worked as hard as I could and now I have nothing,” Fernandez said.
Three shelters have been set up in the Valparaiso area and 19 helicopters and more than 450 firefighters have been dispatched to fight the blaze, Toha said.
The fires burned in hard-to-reach mountains, such as in slums on the outskirts of Viña del Mar.
Authorities reported power outages as a result of the fire, and Toha said that in the Valparaiso area, 4 hospitals and 3 retirement homes for the elderly had to be evacuated. The fire also destroyed two bus stations, the interior minister said.
This year, the El Niño climate phenomenon is causing droughts and warmer-than-usual temperatures in western South America, increasing the threat of forest fires. In January, more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of forest were destroyed in Colombia through fires that followed several weeks of dry weather.
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Associated Press Manuel Rueda in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.
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