Chile Wildfire: On Sunday, a few nations that have committed assistance started to arrive from abroad.
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As the death toll grew to at least 24 and the number of injured increased to nearly 1,000, firefighters in Chile fought dozens of roaring wildfires on Sunday in an effort to bring one of the nation’s deadliest natural catastrophes in years under control.
International Help
As the most intense flames burnt woods and farmland in three locations near the middle of the South American country’s long Pacific coastline, aid from abroad started to arrive on Sunday from a few nations that had promised resources, including planes and skilled firefighting teams.
According to the authorities, they were supporting the delivery of supplies from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, and Venezuela.
There was already some foreign assistance present.
Officials announced on Sunday that a Spanish military unit would make it, and that a “Ten Tanker” aircraft with a 36,000-litre fire fighting capacity should arrive on Monday.
According to Chile’s foreign ministry, two military planes, over 300 volunteers from Mexico, a specialist team of personnel, and trucks from Argentina also came on Sunday.
Government Aid
In an effort to expedite relief, President Gabriel Boric declared states of emergency for the mostly rural southern regions of Biobio, Nuble, and Araucania.
Speaking on Sunday from the Araucanian city of Puren, Boric emphasised that his government will offer all necessary resources while simultaneously trying to rally people against the fatal flames.
I’ve seen our people’s tenacity, and it’s precisely that spirit that has to lead us through this trying moment, he remarked. “When we put it all together, we’ll win this.”
The Fire
According to officials, the fires have burned across an area about the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island or 270,000 hectares.
The Southern Hemisphere’s summer heat wave has made it more difficult to put out the fires because temperatures in some of the worst-affected locations have hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius).
On Saturday night, light from the flames illuminated boats in the small harbor as pockets of strong fire could be seen bursting out from the forested hills off the coast near the village of Dichato just outside the city of Concepcion in the Biobio region.
More than half of the recorded victims of the fires, or 13, are from Biobio, which, like Nuble and Araucania, has large tracts of forest as well as farms that produce grapes and other exportable fruits.
Officials from the interior ministry reported on Sunday that there are about 260 fires burning throughout the dry area, with 28 of them being deemed particularly dangerous.
Dash for Safety
For those who were fortunate enough to have options before the oncoming flames, the fires in some locations provoked a desperate run for safety.
“Get in the water at the pool! Enter the pool to your neck’s depth “Although she declined to give her name, a woman in hard-hit Biobio recalled yelling at her parents at the family’s home outside of the town of Santa Juana.
She spoke of a hasty search for a location to take cover, one that involved leaving behind vehicles and pleading with neighbors to join them in the pool.
Over 1,500 individuals have sought refuge in nearby shelters. The 970 injured are reported as having at least 26 serious injuries, according to local hospitals.
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