Fires have consumed more than 750 hectares (1,853 acres) of forest in Chile, destroying homes and threatening farms and forests, as the South American nation faces summer heat in the country’s southern and central regions.
According to the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), the fire has so far covered about 550 hectares, an area almost three times the size of Monaco, near the town of Chillan, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital, Santiago.
Around 200 hectares were also devastated in another part of the Nuble region, he added. “It’s like your life is over,” said Juan Pradenas, a mechanic whose house in Chillan was destroyed by the fire. “At my age, I have to start fighting again to get my equipment, I lost all my working tools.
Rosa Torres who lives near Chillan says “It’s terrible, the fire was there, we saw it from a distance and then the wind changed and the fire was here in the blink of an eye.
Chile’s interior ministry has declared a red alert for the Nuble region and the Biobio region in the south as it tries to secure more funding to fight fires in areas of more intensive forestry and agricultural production.
The ministry also temporarily closed seven national parks in Santiago and some southern regions of Chile due to the risk of new fires. Authorities also ordered the evacuation of rural areas of the Nuble region due to the risk of fire.
The government is also worried that Puelche – a hot and dry wind phenomenon expected to arrive over central and southern Chile before long – could face problems in the region, which is already registering temperatures of 42°C (108°F). “It’s a very complex combination,” Agriculture Secretary Esteban Valenzuela told reporters.
