He forest and structural fire that occurred on the Cordillera hill and caused evacuations in several sectors is now contained, and left a dozen homes in its wake, a preliminary figure that will be verified in daylightreported the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Toháafter the emergency meeting of the national Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid).
The emergency originated tonight on Chaparro Street, and the emergency response was activated. SAE alert to evacuate residents of the sector. Then the same was requested in the Santa María, Guillermo Bravo and Cantera Street sectors, also in the mountain rangeand in Calle Campanilla, Alfredo Vargas Stoller and La Cantera in Cerro Alegre.
Tohá explained that «The fire started at 8:55 p.m. on Cerro Cordillera, in the Chaparro Alto ravine sector, which then advanced towards the Chaparro Medio ravine sector; very quickly it gained a lot of strength, and due to the characteristics of the night time the combat, which was carried out on land, became difficult.»
«Subsequently, at 9:30 p.m. a second fire in the Curauma sectorof the forest type (…) At 23:05 there was a additional fire, in the La Caldera sector«he continued.
«All of these fires are contained«he emphasized.
«However, the damage assessment is still not complete, given the schedule. The approximation is that there should be between 15 and 40 homes affectedbut we will not be able to be sure of that until there is daylight and a complete review can be done,» the minister pointed out.
Minutes before, the regional presidential delegate, Sofía González, reported in Cooperative that the preliminary affected area is estimated between 4 and 5 hectares.
[En vivo📻] Tohá: The approximation is that there should be between 15 and 40 homes affected, but there will be no security until there is daylight #CooperativeWithYou
— Cooperative (@Cooperative) March 14, 2024
At the post-Cogrid press point, Tohá reported the qualification of two educational establishments as hostels; although he specified that at the moment there have been no requests to transfer to them. The situation of these classes, meanwhile, must be defined by the regional authorities.
Regarding the condition of the affected neighbors, «we have no injured people; «Yes, we do have people who have reported alterations due to what they experienced.»
Meanwhile, the National Defense Headquarters, which remains deployed in the region due to the state of catastrophe that is still in force due to the February fires in Viña del Mar, ordered a «security perimeter» throughout the affected area this time, «to have protection and there are no crimes of any kind,» confirmed the Minister of the Interior.
«Also Carabineros has provided support, special additional reinforcements that are moving from Santiagoto carry out surveillance rounds throughout the sector,» he added.
In parallel, the Public Ministry instructed three brigades of the Investigative Police to carry out initial procedures to determine the origin of the fires.
About the main focus, on the Cordillera hill, reports from neighbors have pointed to the launching of a flare; However, the authorities have not referred to this yet.
LIVE | From Senapred, authorities deliver a balance sheet of the Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid). https://t.co/2k0gPrjURf
— SENAPRED (@Senapred) March 14, 2024
«WE DO NOT HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS FOR FIRE»
Regarding the future of the three fires, Tohá compared, with some optimism, that «the (weather) forecast for tomorrow is nothing like the most difficult forecasts of weeks ago; there are no such high temperatures, the winds for great quite moderate part of the day, but in the afternoon they still gain strength.
«We do not have environmental conditions conducive to the tremendous fires we have had in recent times»he concluded.
Post national Cogrid, the regional committee was established to make more specific decisions.