Summary:
Beginning on 15 January 2017, forest fires ravaged the regions of region Metropolitana, Valparaiso,
O´Higgins and Maule, significantly impacting rural sectors and some urban areas. Currently, only a few isolated fires remain.
Chile’s president instructed the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security to declare a Constitutional State of Exception and a State of Catastrophe in the provinces of Colchagua and Cardenal Caro in the O'Higgins region, as well as in the regions of Maule and BioBío. Likewise, a Constitutional State of Exception was put in place for Valparaíso in the Valparaíso region.
To date, the death toll stands at 11 (three CONAF brigade members, two police officers, two firefighters and three civilians). Livelihoods (agriculture and livestock) were increasingly impacted as the forest fires became urban fires, affecting structures and forcing people to be evacuated, displaced and housed in collective centres.