Chile widens state of emergency as raging wildfires leave four dead | Chile

Chile’s government has declared a widened state of emergency amid wildfires that have killed four people and consumed about 8,000 hectares (19,700 acres), as the South American country endures a summer heatwave across southern and central swaths of the country.

The interior minister, Carolina Toha, said on Friday morning the government had declared a catastrophe in the region of Biobío, joining its neighbouring region Ñuble, which President Gabriel Boric announced on Thursday evening.

Four people were reported to have died and hundreds were evacuated on Friday when the flames reached the town of Santa Ana.

“Regretfully we must … confirm that four people died. They were moving in vehicles” in the Biobío region, said Toha.

Toha said two of the dead were killed when the fires engulfed the road they were traveling on, while the other two died in a car accident, presumably while trying to escape the inferno.

Boric is due to travel to Biobió and Ñuble, which are known for agriculture and forestry, after cutting his summer vacation short.

The catastrophe declaration allows the deployment of the armed forces and provides greater coordination in firefighting and public security.

Hundreds of homes have been damaged by dozens of fires, authorities said on Friday. Thirty-eight are raging between the central capital city of Santiago and the country’s south, with the worst seen in Ñuble and Biobío, as well as the Araucania region.

Shelters have opened for families affected by the fires, according to Chile’s disaster agency, Senapred, which reported one person had suffered burns and eight firefighters had minor injuries.

Fires have disrupted traffic on highways in the burning areas, and numerous municipalities have been evacuated.

Authorities have controlled 146 fires.

Weather forecasts on Friday predicted temperatures over 100F (38C) in Ñuble’s capital, Chillán. Strong winds are also expected in the area, which risk worsening fire conditions, the National Forestry Corporation warned.

“Today, unfortunately, we have twice as many hectares burned than in previous years,” the government’s spokesman in Ñuble, Gabriel Pradenas, told local media.

“We are in a very critical state.”