10 arrested for arson as 260 fires burn and dozens of people die in Chile

Chilean authorities have detained 10 people accused of causing deadly bushfires, a government official said.

The blazes, fanned by severe heat and dry winds, have led to 24 deaths and more than 1000 injuries, and those who started them potentially face harsh consequences, Interior Ministry Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve, said at a press conference on Sunday (Monday AEDT).

Volunteers carry supplies for firefighters near trees burning in Puren, Chile, on Saturday.Credit:AP

“The intentional starting of fires will be criminally prosecuted by the government,” Monsalve said. “The law is especially harsh regarding the crime of arson. The sentences range from five years and one day to 20 years. They are high penalties, and we’ll pursue the highest penalties the law allows.”

Authorities are working to contain 51 of 260 bushfires currently burning, with 28 of them considered particularly dangerous, Monsalve said. The blazes have destroyed 800 homes, and 26 people are hospitalised with serious burns.

President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in a third region on the weekend – the largely rural southern regions of Biobio, Nuble and Araucania – in an effort to speed relief funding. He requested assistance from other countries. Spain sent 50 members of its Military Emergency Unit to help control the blazes, according to a tweet from Chile’s government. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would send a plane with experts and materials.

People clear debris after a bushfire swept through the area in Santa Juana, Chile, on Saturday.Credit:AP

The fires are the latest example of extreme weather fuelled by climate change, with temperatures in parts of Chile reaching record highs in recent days.

“The climate crisis is burning Chile,” Petro said in a tweet.

The most intense of the fires torched forests and farmland clustered around three regions near the middle of the South American country’s long Pacific coastline.

The fires have consumed some 270,000 hectares, officials said.

A searing heat wave in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer has complicated efforts to extinguish the flames, as temperatures in some of the most affected areas have exceeded 40 Celsius and new fires sparking to life each day.

Charred remains of a home burnt in a bushfire sit in a pile in Tome, Chile, on Saturday.Credit:AP

Pockets of intense fire could be seen leaping out from the forested hills off the coast near the town of Dichato just outside the city of Concepcion in the Biobio region on Saturday night, as light from the flames illuminated boats in the small harbour.

Thirteen of the dead – more than half of the fires’ reported victims – come from Biobio, which, like Nuble and Araucania, is home to extensive forests as well as farms that grow grapes and other fruit for export.

Nearly 1500 people have fled to area shelters. At least 26 of the 970 injured are listed in grave condition at local hospitals.

Bloomberg, Reuters

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