The continuing woes in Chile with forest fires has been described on National Public Radio as “a nightmare without an end.” A record number of blazes for Chile continue to rage in the country and there doesn’t seem to be any way to quell the ever growing flames. Already 10 people have died in these fires including several firefighters. The president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, commented that this scale of wildfires has never been seen in the history of Chile. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned in the central and southern parts of Chile. One blaze ripped through the city of Santa Olga leaving behind only ashes, and burning out the entire town including 1,000 homes. Over 6,000 residents had to flee as the flames rolled through their city.
The chief causes of the fires include prolonged drought, strong winds and unusually hot weather which are all signs of climate change. These fires have already caused obvious personal loss on a large scale throughout the country, but the fires are also creating issues for the wine and timber industries in Chile. The flames have laid waste to vineyards and forests alike. Chile’s National Emergency Bureau is currently tracking at least 100 active fires covering 920 square miles, and only 30 of these fires are considered contained.
This natural-color image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on January 27, 2016. Greyish brown smoke can be seen rolling off the wildfires and mixing with the clouds. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from NPR.org