Families evacuated as wildfires destroy over a hundred homes in Chile

A wildfire which broke out in the Chilean coastal
town of Valparaiso has forced the evacuation 400
people and injured 19. At least 100 homes have
been razed in the inferno which started at a
fisherman's club and the Chilean Interior Minister
Mahmud Aleuy said in televised remarks that a total
of 500 homes were at risk.
Power was initially cut to about 47,000 customers in
the region, but had been restored to all but 350,
he said.
Hundreds of firefighters from 50 fire brigades from
Valparaiso and neighboring municipalities were sent
out to fight the blaze. Authorities believe gusty
winds and high temperatures fanned the fire.
Poor sanitation has also been blamed as rubbish
dumped around the environment fed the flames.
Aleuy said:
'We don't have any way to prevent people
from throwing trash into Valparaiso's gullies.
We insist that it's not just the civil system
that has to do preventative work. People have
to do it too.'
In 2014, a significantly larger fire killed 13 people
and burned 2,000 homes.
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