Fires have destroyed nearly 890,000 acres
A firefighter digs a trench in an effort to stop the advancement of a wildfire in the Florida community of Concepcion, Chile, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. Fires have been raging in central and southern Chile, fanned by strong winds, hot temperatures and a prolonged drought. Emergency services have battled the flames non-stop for days with thousands of firefighters on the ground and helicopters and small airplanes in the air. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
MAURICIO CUEVAS and ESTEBAN FELIX, Associated Press
CONCEPCION, Chile (AP) — Flames from more than 100 raging wildfires in Chile continued spreading from the mountains to the Pacific coast, destroying forests, livestock and entire towns in a destructive path that is now dangerously close to the city of Concepcion.
Authorities said they found a body Friday, raising the overall death toll to 11. About 118 fires remain active and 53 of those are contained.
Officials were hopeful that light rains and lower temperatures would provide some relief. But the flames picked up near two residential condominiums in the city of Concepcion, about 310 miles (500 kilometers) from the capital of Santiago. Residents of one of the condominiums, which is located behind a hill of pines, used garden hoses to wet the streets while firefighters arrived and contained the flames.
President Michelle Bachelet has called the wildfires the worst forest disaster in Chile’s history.
The forestry agency, CONAF, said the blazes have destroyed nearly 890,000 acres (360,000 hectares) since November. Most of it has been consumed over the past two weeks.
The fires have affected an estimated 3,000 people, although the number could rise since many towns in remote forests have yet to receive aid. Thousands of people have been evacuated. Some have returned to their homes because they fear losing their homes, pastures and livestock.
The carcasses of charred horses, lambs and chickens have been buried in pits to avoid the spread of infectious diseases. TV images show town dwellers outside their wooden homes armed with buckets of water, hoping it will be enough to battle the flames. But those efforts are often undone as winds or smoldering ash spread the fires anew.
More than 4,000 firefighters have battled the fires, but the ferocity of the fires led Bachelet to declare a state of emergency, deploy troops and ask for international help.
A Boeing 747-400 “Super Tanker” from the United States that can dump nearly 20,000 gallons (73,000 liters) of fire retardant or water, and a similar supertanker plane from the Russian government are assisting local emergency crews. Firefighters from Colombia, Mexico and experts from France and other nations have also been arriving to Chile to fight the blazes.
Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz said that Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan and Sweden, also pledged their aid.
“It shows that whole world is uniting to help Chile,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Eva Vergara contributed to this report from Santiago, Chile.
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