The Regional Presidential Delegation of Biobío, based on the technical information provided by CONAF and in coordination with the Regional Directorate of ONEMI, declared a Red Alert for the commune of Arauco due to forest fire, effective as of today and until the conditions of the fire so they deserve it.
The information provided by the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) indicates that the forest fire called “Tropen” is active, consuming an area to be confirmed of 10 hectares of vegetation in the commune of Arauco, presenting proximity to inhabited sectors.
With the declaration of the Red Alert, all necessary and available resources will be mobilized, in additional support to what has already been deployed by CONAF, Firefighters and the National Disaster Prevention and Response System (SINAPRED). In this way, action will be taken to control the situation, given the extent and severity of the event.
The Chilean Wood Corporation (Corma) denounced that a Koala helicopter that was fighting fires in Arauc was attacked, bringing to three the aircraft that this season would have been attacked with bullets while fighting fires, in a fact that they say has become recurrent in the called the South Macrozone.
“The situation is very serious. We are facing criminal actions that have become habitual where they do not hesitate to put human lives, towns and the environment at risk. This Saturday a helicopter from the Arauco company that was fighting the fire in Tropen, Arauco, Biobío, was attacked with bullets, for which its landing was immediately ordered to protect the life of the pilot and avoid a tragedy,” said Juan José Ugarte, President of Corma He added that this serious armed attack is added to the one suffered yesterday Friday by a Conaf aircraft and a Cmpc tanker that was attacked by bullets in a fire in Lanalhue in Araucanía a month ago.
“We have evidence, images of simultaneous spotlights in the middle of the night, of people turning on spotlights, of people shooting at aircraft. Only in Cholchol, Araucanía, last night there were 15 simultaneous outbreaks that demonstrate the clear intention of this true ecological crime that puts human lives at risk”, stressed the union leader.
“Capabilities are clearly being outpaced. Right now there are rural communes where neither brigade members nor aircraft can enter to fight intentional fires, putting human lives and homes at risk that are left defenseless against the fire,” said Corma’s chief.
“We are requesting the authorities that during this emergency movement be restricted in rural communes where the intentionality of the fires is concentrated, to prevent them from continuing to spread and emergency teams from entering,” he said.
And he stressed that “in areas where there is territorial control by armed groups, emergency teams cannot enter to fight the fire due to lack of security for brigade members, personnel and aircraft. We cannot expose their lives if there is no security.”
Between this Friday and Saturday, the brigades of the forestry companies have fought more than 90 fires, of which 21 are still in combat today. This Saturday the efforts have been concentrated on the fires of Reñico, in Traiguén; Campo Amor, Mulchén, north of the Renaico (Araucanía) and the Tropen fire, in the province of Arauco, Biobío.
