Wildfires kill twenty people in southern Chile

(MENAFN) Wildfires tore through southern Chile for a third consecutive day Monday, claiming at least 20 lives and leveling entire towns. High temperatures and strong winds have fueled the blazes during the peak of the southern hemisphere summer.

The fires, which began Saturday in the Nuble and Biobio regions roughly 500 kilometers south of Santiago, have consumed an area comparable to the size of Detroit, U.S. Authorities reported around 1,000 homes either destroyed or damaged.

President Gabriel Boric stated that while some fires have been contained, others remain highly active, and new outbreaks have emerged in the neighboring Araucania region. Both Nuble and Biobio have been declared disaster zones, allowing the military to assist in patrolling the devastated areas, which are now filled with melted vehicles, twisted metal, and ruins of homes.
Residents described fleeing their homes in panic. Yagora Vasquez, a Lirquen resident, recounted grabbing her son and evacuating as flames approached, while her brother rescued their dog. Returning to the ruins on Monday, survivors sifted through ash and debris to salvage belongings.

Several residents, including Mareli Torres, who had moved inland after Chile’s 2010 tsunami, said the destruction from fire far surpasses that of past natural disasters. Torres described losing her nearly two-decade-old family home to what she called “a wave of fire, not water.” Only charred walls and smoke now remain where her house once stood.

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