The Government of Chile has released a new balance of those that keep the regions of Biobío, Ñuble and Araucanía, and the municipality of San Fernando de O’Higgins, on high alert. The number of deaths has increased to 20, of which 19 have died in Biobío, especially in the coastal town of Lirquén; and there were 272 injured. The number of victims has risen to 7,237, those sheltered to 562 and the burned hectares amount to more than 38,000.
In a press conference this Tuesday, Álvaro Elizalde, Minister of the Interior, updated the number of homes destroyed: 590. Among the affected infrastructures, seven school institutions stand out. “We are talking about four kindergartens and three basic and secondary education establishments, with a total enrollment of 767 girls, boys and adolescents (…) There are four health establishments that have been affected,” he noted.
On Monday night, weather conditions improved, which represents a breath of fresh air for firefighters fighting the fires. But Elizalde has warned that on the fourth day since the fires flared up, “certain complexities” could occur as the climate changes. Until the moment of the report, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) has reported two extinct and 32 under control. At the beginning of the day, no evacuation message had been sent through the Emergency Alert System (SAE).
The authorities, however, recalled that the same thing had happened on Monday morning, and then there were different calls for citizens to leave some at-risk areas. For this reason, they asked not to let their guard down in this emergency. The megafire that is ravaging the center-south of the country has been compared since its beginning by the Minister of Security, Luis Cordero, in terms of intensity, with those that occurred in 2017, 2023 or 2024. In 2024, 135 people died, the deadliest in a decade.
The Government also requested that teams remain cautious regarding searches for possible victims in the affected areas, the Investigative Police (PDI) and the Forensic Legal Medical Service. Hence, in this process, the removal of debris in the sites investigated by the specialists is not recommended.
Condemnation of an attack against firefighters
The attack in the Colonia Manuel Rodríguez sector of the commune of Angol, in Araucanía, against volunteer firefighters, while they were fighting a fire on Monday afternoon, has also been condemned by the Government. “It is unacceptable, very serious that firefighters who have been deployed to confront this fire have been victims of attacks. We cannot tolerate that,” said Elizalde.
The minister recalled that Araucanía remains in a state of constitutional emergency exception, which “authorizes the limitation of certain rights and freedoms to guarantee the safety of the people.”
The unknown people who attacked the volunteers were described as “miserable” and “criminals” by Boric. According to a statement from the fire department, “firefighters were subjected to direct threats from people present in the sector, and various shots from firearms were also recorded, as well as direct damage to a unit belonging to the task force of the Los Ríos region.”
At the moment, three people are detained in the context of the fires. One of these arrested is a 50-year-old subject, captured by residents of the Penco commune, in Biobío, after trying to start a new crime. According to preliminary information, the detainee had copper cables and a lighter in his backpack, with which he was preparing to set fire to an area with vegetation in the Villa Margarita sector, according to The Third. The Chilean police also determined that he had a record of theft and drug law violations.
Minister Luis Cordero does not rule out formally initiating criminal action by the Executive against this man. “Just like we did in the season [de incendios] “In the past, we are going to take action against those who participate in crimes of these characteristics,” he explained.
The origin of the fires is still being investigated in Chile. The regional prosecutor’s offices of Ñuble and Biobío have instructed the police to protect the sites of the event as much as possible to carry out investigations to determine the origin of the flames. On Sunday, national prosecutor Ángel Valencia indicated that there are some preliminary hypotheses that are being analyzed, which will be kept confidential.
