Authorities in the Chilean city of Valparaiso mounted a virtual army of firefighters on Monday – including 11 helicopters, six planes and 2,000 boots on the ground -- as they fought to control the flames of what they are calling the “worst fire” the Pacific-coast city has ever seen. At least 12 people have died, 500 were injured, and 8,000 have been left homeless, with 2,000 residences destroyed completely since the fire began on Saturday in a patch of forest on the edge of the city and progressed across a series of ramshackle neighborhoods disconnected from water mains, toward the city center.
The worst of the destruction may not be over. The AP reports that Chile’s forestry service said on Monday that it didn’t believe the fire would be extinguished completely for another 20 days, even as aide flooded in from across the country to the city of about 250,000. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who arrived at the city on Monday morning, called the fire a “tremendous tragedy, maybe the worst fire” . It’s certainly the worst since 1953, when a blaze resulted in the deaths of 50 people.
El Universal notes that the ravages of the flames were exacerbated not just by strong, hot winds and high temperatures, but also to the presence of landfills on the edges of some of the hillside neighborhoods. Another factor has been the shoddy materials used in the construction of homes. Emergency expert Michel De L’Herbe told the BBC that “irregular settlements” which were at the greatest risk during the fire showed “lack of planning and exercising of authority in zoning”.
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