At least 16 people have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes as wildfires continue to burn out of control in southern Chile. President
Gabriel Boric on Sunday declared a state of catastrophe in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, about 500 km south of the capital, Santiago, where the fires have been raging for a second day. Security Minister Luis Cordero said the death toll had been confirmed across at least 14 blazes in the two regions. Most of the fatalities were reported in the coastal town of Penco, according to its mayor, Rodrigo Vera. Posting on social media platform X, President Boric said the declaration meant that "all resources are available", including the involvement of the armed forces, as nearly 4,000 firefighters battle the flames. The worst-hit areas include the towns of Penco and Lirquén, just north of the city of Concepción, which together have a population of around 60,000. Disaster officials said about 20,000 people had been evacuated, while local media reported that some 250 homes had been destroyed. Alicia Cebrián, head of Chile's National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response, said most evacuations were carried out in those two towns. In Lirquén, a small port community, residents described fleeing to the beach to escape the advancing fires. "There is nothing left standing," said Alejandro Arredondo, 57, as he surveyed what he described as a burning landscape of metal and wood where homes once stood. Chile's forestry agency, Conaf, said firefighters were battling 24 fires nationwide on Sunday, with those in Ñuble and Biobío posing the greatest threat. Esteban Krause, head of a forest preservation agency in Biobío, warned that conditions were likely to worsen, with high temperatures and strong winds forecast. Much of the country is under heat alerts, with temperatures expected to reach 38C in the coming days between Santiago and Biobío. Chile has suffered a series of deadly wildfires in recent years, a situation authorities say has been exacerbated by prolonged drought. In February 2024, fires near the city of Viña del Mar killed 138 people and affected about 16,000 others. Two years earlier, blazes in the Valparaíso region claimed at least 120 lives.
