100 Wildfires in Chile burn 35,000 acres and 15 homes
100 Wildfires in Chile burn 35,000 acres and 15 homes
12 January 2015
published by www.laprensasa.com
Chile — A total of 101 wildfires in different parts of Chile burned 14,158 hectares (34,958 acres) of woodland, brush and pastureland over the weekend while destroying 15 homes, officials said Monday.
Some of the fires had “high resistance to control” and continued to blaze Monday while being fought by land and air, a communique from the National Forestry Corporation, or Conaf, said.
Conaf Executive Director Aaron Cavieres said in the note that the most dangerous blazes were in the Maule region, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Santiago, particularly the one in the Canelillo Valdes sector that scorched some 12,150 hectares (30,000 acres), chiefly in reforested areas.
Six Conaf fire brigades and two helicopters are at work there, as well as brigades and aircraft of the forestry companies, the organization said.
Another fire in the same region continues to burn in the El Cardonal sector near the town of Cauquenes, with 1,253 hectares (3,093 acres) affected by a blaze being fought by three Conaf fire brigades and one helicopter, as well as two army brigades plus private companies’ aircraft and firefighters on the ground.
Meanwhile a fire in the Aguila Sur sector, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Santiago, has burned 515 hecares (1,272 acres) of vegetation, while in the southern Biobio region a blaze was controlled in El Morro, in the municipality of Mulchen, 550 kilometers (340 miles) from the capital, after burning 110 hectares (271 acres) and 15 homes.
In La Araucania, some 670 kilometers (415 miles) from Santiago, eight blazes have scorched some 130 hectares (301 acres) in the municipalities of Ercilla and Lumaco.
