Chile is experiencing its “greatest tragedy” since 2010, believes its president.
For more than three days, the South American country has been facing violent fires in the coastal and tourist region of Valparaíso.
A tragedy that left at least several dozen dead, and whose toll is likely to get worse.
Which areas affected?
The forest fires broke out on Friday, enveloping in smoke the tourist regions of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, about 120 km north of the capital, Santiago.
Dozens of outbreaks were also detected in O'Higgins, in the center of the country, but also in the areas of Maule, Biobío, L'Araucanía and Los Lagos, in the south.
#ImageOfTheDay#Wildfires🔥 in #Chile 🇨🇱 have caused at least 51 casualties
▶️Authorities have declared a state of emergency
▶️@CopernicusEMS has been activated (#EMSR715)
⬇️The resulting smoke cloud was visible in the #Copernicus #Sentinel3🇪🇺🛰️ image of 3 February pic.twitter.com/p9apC3TqDy
— Copernicus EU (@CopernicusEU) February 5, 2024
What is the outcome?
As of Sunday evening, the Chilean forensic service's toll was "112 people killed, 32 bodies identified," Manuel Monsalve, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said at a press conference.
But during previous assessments, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that he would make progress.
“We know that it will increase significantly,” he explained.
The mayor of the resort town of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ripamonti, and the governor of the Valparaíso region, Rodrigo Mundaca, said several hundred people were missing.
On a material level, nearly 26,000 ha were reduced to ashes.
Entire residential areas were devastated, cars burned.
Why is the human toll so high?
These forest fires in Chile are already among the deadliest of the 21st century.
Their toll is heavy because the fire reached densely populated areas, mainly in Viña del Mar. In this sector and others, families lived crowded together in light constructions, sometimes on land intended to serve as a firebreak, according to authorities and experts.
The lightweight materials used for these constructions, such as wood or fiber cement, are unfortunately an excellent fuel.
Flames rushed through the narrow streets of the hills, blowing up entire rows of cars parked in front of houses, survivors said.
Questions also remain about the functioning of the evacuation orders sent to the mobile phones of the people concerned.
“The alarms were triggered, but the evacuation apparently did not work (…).
The emphasis is on combat, but not on prevention (…) and I think that is a gap,” said Horacio Gilabert, from the Center for Global Change at the Catholic University of Chile.
What is the cause of these fires?
“The possibility that these fires were intentional is under investigation,” President Gabriel Boric said on Saturday.
According to Chile's National Forestry Council (Conaf), 99.7% of fires are caused either deliberately or recklessly.
In the present case, “outbreaks occurred simultaneously, which is completely abnormal,” notes Professor Castillo.
The climate crisis has played a role in the spread of the fires.
The southern cone of America is currently suffocating under scorching temperatures.
Chile, in the middle of the southern summer, has been experiencing a heat wave since last week, with temperatures reaching 40°C.
Also read: Forest fires: 2023 was a devastating year
In this region, the natural and cyclical phenomenon "El Niño" has become more intense and more frequent due to global warming caused by human activity, according to scientists.
This phenomenon increases the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, causing droughts or floods.
“A change of just a few degrees in the tropical Pacific can mean the difference between a relatively calm wildfire season and a widespread disaster,” explains climatologist Raúl Cordero in a study recently published in the journal Nature's Scientific Reports.
Last year, Chile experienced an atypical period of rain amid a prolonged drought.
This led to the appearance of scrubland, a perfect fuel for a wildfire.
What resources are deployed on the ground?
These fires are “the greatest tragedy we have experienced since the 2010 earthquake,” declared Gabriel Boric, referring to the 8.8 magnitude earthquake which was followed by a tsunami on February 27, 2010, and which left more than 500 dead.
Some 1,400 firefighters and 1,300 soldiers and volunteers, supported by 31 helicopters and water-throwing planes, are mobilized to fight the flames.
President Boric, who, in almost two years in power, increased the budget devoted to fire prevention and fighting by 47%, declared a state of emergency in order to mobilize as many resources as possible.
In certain areas of Valparaíso, a curfew has been established in order to free the roads, to allow the rapid passage of emergency vehicles or to facilitate evacuations.
But Chile still needs to review and modernize its strategy to deal with disasters of this magnitude, experts say.
Thus, the country does not have nighttime fire-fighting resources.
“Therefore, the probability that all the work done during the day will be lost during the night is very high,” emergency management expert Michel De L'Herbe told Cooperativa radio.