December 25, 2022, 7:06 PM
December 25, 2022, 7:06 PM
The fire that broke out three days ago in Viña del Mar, on the central coast of Chile, is under control but not completely extinguished, authorities reported on Sunday, after the fire destroyed hundreds of houses in the upper part of this city.
“The fire of Viña del Mar It is in a controlled situation and has left the red alert. That does not mean that it is completely extinct,” said the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, when taking stock of the situation in that town, 120 km west of Santiago.
The official ruled out that there is a direct threat to the residents in the affected area and its surroundings, which is why she changed the alert from red to yellow, but said that “there are still sources of heat, there are still care measures, there are still equipment working on the spot.”
On Sunday morning, the balance of the fire was two deaths, 67 injured (only one of medium severity) and 267 houses damaged, according to data from the government and the National Emergency Office (Onemi).
Besides, the fire devastated an area of 111 hectaresaccording to the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf).
“We are passing the first emergency phase,” said Sofía González, the presidential delegate for the Valparaíso region, where Viña del Mar is located.
In the affected urban areas, and where the fire was already out, efforts were concentrated on removing debris and delivering basic resources to the victims.
The incident, which began as a forest fire, began in the hills of Viña del Mar and advanced favored by strong gusts of wind through streams until reaching the inhabited sectors, most of them low-income, with lightly built houses and narrow streets.
The magnitude of the fire led to the President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency due to catastrophe in the Valparaíso region. Boric toured some of the neighborhoods destroyed by fire on Friday and spoke with people who lost their homes.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, they were still present in Viña del Mar three ministers and, among other measures, an operation had been launched to care for people with eye damage as a result of the fire.
