The Valparaíso Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported this Friday the arrest of a 22-year-old subject as a suspect in the responsibility of the megafire that killed 137 people and left 16 thousand victims in the first days of February in the communes of Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Quilpué and Villa Alemana.
The individual, who has been identified as a Firefighter volunteerwas arrested by detectives from the Investigative Brigade of Crimes against the Environment (Bidema) of the Investigative Police.
According to the first information, he has been working for a year and a half in the 13th Company of Placillain the Port City, where police personnel arrived this afternoon to capture him.
A report released in March, which the Conaf Analysis and Diagnostic Unit delivered to the Prosecutor’s Office, indicated that the origin of the accidents that destroyed more than 4,500 homes was «an incendiary attack by four outbreaks.»
«WE ARE DEVASTATED»
«We are completely devastated. It is a completely isolated fact and we want to clarify it as soon as possible. We have been serving Valparaíso for more than 170 years and we cannot allow these types of situations (…) it is terrible«was the first reaction from the institution, in the voice of Vicente Maggiolocommander of the Valparaíso Fire Department.
📢 Coordinated work @FiscaliaRegionV with #Bidema @PDI_Valparaiso allowed the arrest of the alleged perpetrator of the mega fire that affected part of Greater Valparaíso last February and in which 137 people died. Tomorrow it will be formalized in JG #Valparaiso pic.twitter.com/H8V2UhfXde
— Valparaíso Regional Prosecutor’s Office (@FiscaliaRegionV) May 24, 2024
«With tremendous pain we received the news that the person responsible was eventually a Firefighter volunteer,» commented the deputy Tomás Lagomarsino.
However, «I want to say clearly that This news does not muddy or mourn the work of an institution which is Firefighters, whose volunteers worked tirelessly to fight the fire that February 2 and the following days; not only those from our region, but thousands of volunteers who attended from other regions of our country,» said the legislator.
«THE VIÑAMARINOS KNEW IT WAS AN ATTACK»
«All of us Viñamarinos knew that this had been an intentional attack,» the mayor stated Macarena Ripamontiwho revealed that «today, thanks to the professional, dedicated and impeccable work of the PDI and the Prosecutor’s Office, we can have that degree of certainty.»
In that sense, the authority of the commune most affected by the February disaster emphasized the need for the suspect to be prosecuted and the greatest criminal punishments to be applied.
«On behalf of the families, the fatal victims and all of us who live in the city, I want to say that We expect the most exemplary sentences for those who attacked us. For anyone who even dares to attack the city tomorrow, know that they will be persecuted, arrested and condemned for the rest of their life,» he said.
While his pair from Quilpué, Valeria Melipillan, said that «we obviously hope that the full rigor of the law is applied to him or the culprits. We also hope that the investigation is expanded and deepened in order to know all the details of the beginning of this tragedy.»
He Governor of Valparaíso, Rodrigo Mundacaemphasized that «It is the most Dantesque fire that has affected humanity in the last 20 years, and from the first minute I pointed out very strongly the need to find and apply the greatest sanctions to those responsible.»
«From the first minute I insisted to the police about the need to thoroughly investigate responsibility for the four lights that were lit simultaneously, 1.3 kilometers apart from each other in the Lago Peñuelas Reserve. Today the information that we have speaks of an alleged responsible person, but We always said that there was human intervention hereWe always said that here there was premeditation and treachery«, held.
Therefore, he asked for rigor in the proceedings so that the investigation reaches a successful conclusion: «Losing 137 lives is irreparable damage and deserves the maximum punishment.»
The subject will be formalized this Saturday in the Guarantee Court of Valparaíso.
In the middle of this month, the National Congress approved a law that creates a temporary fund, of up to 800 billion pesosfor the reconstruction of the sectors affected by the megafires last February in the region.