Devastating raging wildfires in southern Chile have left at least 19 dead and affected more than 1,500 local residents.
The ongoing situation prompted outgoing Chilean leftist President Gabriel Boric to declare a state of emergency for the affected regions of Ñuble and Biobío.
“There are more than 630 people sheltered, there are 9 shelters that are operational, we have recorded more than 1,500 people affected, 325 homes destroyed, and more than 1,100 under evaluation,” Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero said during a Sunday night emergency press conference in which he catalogued the ongoing wildfires as a “mega fire” and compared it to past ones experienced by the South American country in 2017, 2023, and 2024.
“That is the magnitude of the fire, which we have been fighting since early this morning, throughout the day, and which is expected to continue into tomorrow,” he added, and detailed that out of the 19 deaths, 18 occurred in the Biobío region and 1 in Ñuble.
Outgoing leftist President Boric announced through a Sunday social media post that, after meeting with regional authorities from the areas most affected by the fires, he reached out to conservative President-elect José Antonio Kast to keep him informed. Kast will take office on March 11.
“We will meet tomorrow at La Moneda [presidential palace] to share updated information with him,” Boric wrote. “In difficult times, Chile comes together. Our government and the President-elect will work together.”
Similarly, President-elect Kast announced that he held a virtual meeting with regional authorities to tackle the ongoing emergency in Biobío and Ñuble.
“I am grateful for the meeting with my team and the governors of Biobío, Ñuble, and Maule, as well as the mayors of Penco and Tomé, to analyze the catastrophe unfolding in the south, collaborate to address this emergency, and begin preparations for reconstruction,” Kast wrote.
The Chilean news channel 24 horas detailed emergency crews are battling at least 22 different forest fires nationwide as of the early morning hours of Monday. The local newspaper La Tercera reports that, as of Sunday night, over 25,000 hectares of land had been affected in total — with the largest fire near Trinitarias affecting 10,621 hectares.
At press time, it remains publicly unclear what was the cause for the ongoing fires. CNN Chile reported on Monday morning that a specialized team from the Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office and local law enforcement have begun collecting testimonies, review camera footage, and establish starting points for the fires.
“According to the investigators’ approach, securing the starting points is key to determining whether third parties were involved or whether the events can be explained by accidents or other causes. For now, no hypothesis has been ruled out,” CNN Chile wrote.
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