Fierce forest fires are raging in Chile, probably killing about ten people. The death toll of ten is a preliminary estimate, AFP news agency reports, based on a spokesperson for the central Valparaiso region, which has been hit hard by the fires. President Gabriel Boric late Saturday on X know that he has declared a state of emergency, “in order to have all the necessary resources at his disposal.” According to him, emergency services have been fully deployed since Friday to fight the fire.
Some residents have now been evacuated because hundreds of houses are at risk of going up in flames. In total it works according to the European Commission, based on figures from the Chilean Forest Management Organization, to twelve forest fires, which have burned an area of about 1,800 hectares. That is an area larger than the island of Texel. According to Boric, the fires are difficult to extinguish due to the high temperatures and the wind.
The forest fires were caused by drought and a heat wave in Chile, where it is now summer. The temperature in central Chile has been hitting forty degrees since Wednesday. This is due to El Niño, the climate phenomenon in which strong warming takes place and which intensifies extreme weather. The Global Forest Fire Information Center (GWIS) predicts that the risk of forest fires in Chile from February 3 to 5 will be between ‘very high’ and ‘extreme’.
Forest fires are raging more often in Chile. In February last year, 23 people were also killed. The fires then seemed more intense than in previous years; According to the Minister of the Interior, as much land had already been burned by the beginning of February 2023 as normally occurs in an entire year.