{"id":5073,"date":"2026-01-19T10:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T10:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/chile-declares-state-of-catastrophe-as-wildfires-kill-at-least-18\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T10:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T10:36:23","slug":"chile-declares-state-of-catastrophe-as-wildfires-kill-at-least-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/chile-declares-state-of-catastrophe-as-wildfires-kill-at-least-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Chile declares \u2018state of catastrophe\u2019 as wildfires kill at least 18"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The wildfires force 50,000 people to flee, as President Gabriel Boric declares emergency.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Chile<\/p>

Firefighters battle a blaze at a house in Lirquen, Chile. [Javier Torres\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in two southern regions on Sunday, as raging wildfires forced more than 50,000 people to evacuate and killed at least 18 people.<\/p>\n

According to Chile\u2019s forestry agency CONAF, firefighters were battling 24 active fires across the country as of Sunday morning, with the largest in the regions of Nuble and Biobio, where the government declared the emergency. The regions lie about 500km (310 miles) south of the capital, Santiago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the serious ongoing wildfires, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of \u00d1uble and Biob\u00edo. All resources are available,\u201d Boric said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Fires have consumed nearly 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) in the two regions so far, threatening multiple communities and prompting the authorities to issue evacuation orders.<\/p>\n

Officials say adverse conditions, including strong winds and high temperatures, have helped the wildfires spread and made it harder for firefighters to bring them under control. Much of Chile was under extreme heat alerts, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 38C (100F) from Santiago to Biobio on Sunday and Monday.<\/p>\n

Wildfires have severely affected south-central Chile in recent years amid growing evidence of the impact of climate change in the South American country, including extreme weather, droughts and floods.<\/p>\n

In February 2024, several fires broke out simultaneously near the city of Vina del Mar, northwest of Santiago, resulting in 138 deaths, according to the public prosecutor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Chile<\/p>

Flames billow from burning houses during a wildfire in Concepcion. [Guillermo Salgado\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency on January 18 for two southern regions. [Guillermo Salgado\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Charred remains of destroyed homes in Concepcion. [Raul Bravo\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Burned vehicles line a road after wildfires swept through residential areas in Lirquen. [Javier Torres\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

A resident reacts in front of the charred remains of destroyed homes in Concepcion. [Raul Bravo\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Residents comfort each other in front of their burned home in Concepcion. [Raul Bravo\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Burned houses after a fire blazed through the El Olivar neighbourhood in Vina del Mar. [Esteban Felix\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"Chile<\/p>

Wildfires burn at sunrise near Lirquen. [Javier Torres\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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The wildfires force 50,000 people to flee, as President Gabriel Boric declares emergency. Firefighters battle a blaze at a house in Lirquen, Chile. [Javier Torres\/AP Photo] Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in two southern regions on Sunday, as raging wildfires forced more than 50,000 people to evacuate and killed at least … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}