Friday December 23, 2022 | 12:15 p.m.
The Undersecretary of the Interior of Chile, Manuel Monsalve, reported this Friday that the Head of State, Gabriel Boric, instructed to decree a state of catastrophe due to the massive fire in Viña del Mar, 122 kilometers northwest of the capital, which until now has affected to more than 400 homes.
I have instructed to decree a State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe to have all the necessary tools to fight the fires that affect Viña del Mar. We will not leave you alone.
—Gabriel Boric Font (@GabrielBoric) December 23, 2022
At least two people died from a fire registered on Thursday in the upper area of the city of Viña del Mar, 120 kilometers west of Santiago de Chile, which affected some 400 homes and forced the Chilean government to declare a state of emergency.
The flames, favored by strong gusts of wind, consumed ravines and hills in a few hours until they reached the inhabited sectors of this seaside resort on the Chilean central coast, neighboring the tourist port of Valparaíso, according to the AFP news agency.
🚨EMERGENCIA🚨 At this time, all of our Companies, with the support of CB of the Valparaiso Region, continue working to control the fire declared in the upper sector of Viña del Mar.
🚨🚒WE REITERATE THE CALL OF THE COMMANDER, PATRICIO BRITO: DO NOT ATTEND THE PLACE OF THE EMERGENCY🚨 pic.twitter.com/wO3KxSmgO7
– ViñadelMar Firefighters (@bomberosvina) December 23, 2022
“Approximately 200 houses are burning,” said the commander of the Viña del Mar Fire Department, Patricio Brito, who later declared that the number of houses affected had risen to 400. Brito also confirmed the death of two people as a result of the incident. .
“The fire started in a sector called Nueva Esperanza 2000; it crossed and reached these two parcels and is going down to the north, towards Quinta Vergara through a deep ravine,” explained the mayor of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ripamonti. .
“We have information that a burned body has been found; we want to have total and absolute confirmation, and there is information that we have to confirm from a second body,” added Monsalve.
Until now, the National Emergency Office (Onemi) of the Ministry of the Interior has ordered the evacuation of risk areas in the hills of Viña del Mar, a city that is home to some of the largest informal housing camps in the country in the affected area.
According to estimates by the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), at least 110 hectares have been consumed by the flames.
