SANTIAGO, Chile — At least 13 people have been reported dead as a result of more than 150 wildfires across Chile that have destroyed homes and thousands of acres of forest while the South American nation was in the midst of a heatwave. scorching hot.
President Gabriel Boric of Chile, who suspended a holiday to travel to affected areas on Friday, said there was “evidence” that some fires were caused by illegal burning. “The full force of the state will be deployed first to fight the fire and accompany all the victims,” Boric said.
As of midday Friday, the fire had raged on nearly 35,000 acres and 65 had been declared under control. It is not yet clear how many homes and other structures have been burned.
Most of the wildfires occurred in the Biobío region and neighboring Ñuble region, where the government has declared a state of disaster, a designation that allows closer coordination with the military and suspends some constitutional rights .
Ivonne Rivas, mayor of the port city of Tomé, in Biobío, told local radio: “Families are facing a lot of difficulties. “It’s the hell they’re living through; the fire got away from us.
The heat wave hitting Chile is expected to continue, with high temperatures and strong winds likely to make it more difficult to put out the fires.
Try to put out a fire in Santa Juana, near Concepcion, Chile, on Friday.
Rosa Munoz, center, outside her demolished home in Tomé on Saturday.
Fire destroyed nearly 35,000 acres of forest in Chile on Friday.
Burned trees along a road near Santa Juana on Friday.
Julio Escobar is clearing debris from his house in Tomé on Saturday.
