Summary: CHF 68,799 was allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 11 January 2012 to support the Chilean Red Cross (ChRC) in delivering immediate assistance to 250 families (1,000 persons). The operation closed with a total expenditure of 66,688 Swiss francs, with a final balance of 2,111 Swiss francs unspent and returned to the DREF fund.
Wildfires spread through the regions of Biobío, La Araucanía, Magallanes and Maule, late December 2011 and early January 2012 affecting thousands of hectares of forests, graslands, crops and destroying homes.
In response to the situation the ChRC developed an integrated plan of action and reached 250 families (1,030 people) that lost all their possession and livelihood during the fires. In coordination with the Chilean government and the organizations constituting the Humanitarian Relief Network of Chile, the National Society provided psychosocial support and distributed hygiene kits, kitchen sets, household water treatment kits, buckets, and first aid kits with the support of the DREF. In addition, volunteers also supported the efforts to contain fires and carried out a collection campaign at the national level. The National Society efforts and impressions from beneficiaries were captured in the following video (with English subtitles)