EL NINO WEATHER PHENOMENON CAUSES RAGING FOREST FIRES IN CHILE; STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED

In response to the rapidly spreading forest fires in the country’s center that have already claimed the lives of at least ten people, Chile has declared a state of emergency.

President Gabriel Boric announced the measure on X, posting that “all forces are deployed in the fight against the forest fires.” He also mentioned that emergency services would convene on Saturday to evaluate the situation.

Since Friday, the fires have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, shrouding coastal communities in a thick cloud of gray smoke and displacing residents of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso in the center.

At least 10 people have died, according to a state representative of Valparaiso.

“We have winds of close to 40 or 50km [25-31 miles] per hour,” said Leonardo Moder, the director of Valparaiso’s national forestry corporation.

“This wind is hard because it carries lit leaves, branches or pieces of wood, and each creates a new little fire that grows into more fires,” he added.

The blaze is being driven by a summer heatwave and drought affecting the southern part of South America caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as scientists warn that a warming planet has increased the risk of natural disasters such as intense heat and fires.

In the towns of Estrella and Navidad, southwest of the capital, the fires have burned nearly 30 homes and forced evacuations near the surfing resort of Pichilemu.

“It’s very distressing because we’ve evacuated the house but we can’t move forward. There are all these people trying to get out and who can’t move,” she said.

About 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) have already been burned in Valparaiso alone, according to CONAF, the Chilean national forest authority, which called the blazes “extreme”.

On Friday, authorities closed the road, which links Valparaiso to the capital, Santiago, as a huge mushroom cloud of smoke “reduced visibility”.

As Chile and Colombia battle rising temperatures, the heatwave is also threatening to sweep over Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.