Four die as fire rages in Chile city, disaster declared
Last edited Sun Apr 13, 2014, 10:52 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: AFP
Valparaíso (Chile) (AFP) - Four people have died in a huge fire that on Sunday was consuming the outskirts of Chile's port city of Valparaiso and was advancing unchecked towards its UNESCO-listed historic center, destroying hundreds of homes along the way and forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.
The military has taken over security in the city, located on the Pacific coast 110 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of the capital Santiago and with a population of 270,000, after the government declared it a disaster zone.
"This is the worst catastrophe Valparaiso has ever seen," the regional government administrator, Ricardo Bravo, told local reporters.
Many residents overnight watched, helpless, from distant vantage points as the hills burned bright red. Thick smoke clouded the sky.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-evacuated-fire-burns-500-homes-chile-063505126.html;_ylt=AwrTWf29PEpTfy0AoXrQtDMD
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At least 11 people have died in a massive blaze in Chile's port city of Valparaiso famous for its UNESCO-listed historic center, authorities said Sunday.
"So far, there are at least 11 fatalities from the fire," police official Colonel Fernando Bywaters told Radio Cooperativa. Two of the dead are women.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/least-11-dead-chile-fire-police-140548116.html
The 1991 conflagration was chuck full of bad luck; the perfect firestorm.
3,354 single-family dwellings lost
400 engine companies, 1500 firefighters and 250 agencies worked to put out the fire.
25 people died
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_firestorm_of_1991
A fire raging in this colourful port city has killed at least 16 people and destroyed 500 homes, President Michelle Bachelet said Sunday. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
The fire began Saturday afternoon in a forested area above ramshackle housing on one of the city's many hilltops, and spread quickly as high winds rained hot ash over wooden houses and narrow streets in the city of 250,000.
Electricity failed as the fire spread, and towering, sparking flames turned the night sky orange over the darkened remains of entire neighbourhoods.
"It's a tremendous tragedy, perhaps the worst fire" in the city's history, said President Michelle Bachelet. She announced that 11 people had been killed and warned that the toll of death and damage would rise.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/chile-forest-fire-kills-16-destroys-500-homes-1.2608499
