( Spanish) — Firefighters in Chile are still fighting 79 wildfires out of control of the almost 300 that remain active in seven regions of the country, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED) reported in a statement on Sunday.
According to the report, there are 39 uncontrolled fires in La Araucanía, 19 in Ñuble, 12 in Biobío, four in Maule, three in Los Ríos, one in O’Higgins and one in Los Lagos.
The authorities reported that there are a total of 289 fires throughout the country, of which 168 have been controlled, 42 are under observation, in addition to the 79 already mentioned and which are the most worrying.
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According to the Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve, between this Saturday and Sunday they managed to control 19 fires.
He indicated that there are still complex fires in Maule, Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía”. Monsalve explained that there will be a “climate window”, which will help lower temperatures in some sectors, which will benefit the work being done by firefighters and brigade members to fight the fires.
For their part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Antonia Urrejola, and the Portuguese ambassador to the country received this Sunday a brigade of 144 Portuguese specialists who joined the fight against the fires.
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The SENAPRED report indicates that there are still 9 red alerts declared in the regions of O’Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía, and 5 yellow alerts in Los Ríos and Maule.
The forest fires that have affected several regions of the country for two weeks have caused the death of 24 people, destroyed 1,478 homes and left 5,945 homeless, according to SENAPRED.
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