Chile announced a night curfew in the areas hardest hit by forest fires in the south-central part of the country to prevent robberieswhile a new failure in the American Ten Tanker plane, capable of discharging 36,000 liters of water, makes it difficult to fight the flames.
The movement restriction, which will come into force at midnight on Friday and will be in force until 05:00 a.m., concerns 28 municipalities in three regions where President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe: Biobío, Ñuble and La Araucanía.
In La Araucanía, General Rubén Castillo, military chief of that region, indicated that the curfew in 12 municipalities implies restrictions on public transport “mainly in the province of Malleco”.
This is one of the most critical areas due to clashes between radical Mapuche groups and state forceswithin the framework of a historical conflict for the claim of indigenous lands.
Boric said on Wednesday that he considered it “necessary” to establish curfews to guarantee security.
“President Boric has said that we have to do everything in our power to deliver the facilities to brigade members and firefighters and, on the other hand, the security of families, that we are not going to leave them alone,” said the minister. of Social Development, Giorgio Jackson.
Favored by moderate and strong winds, infernal temperatures of more than 40ºC and a drought that has dragged on for 13 years, Forest fires continue to increase in Chile since their start on February 1.
Currently, of the 323 assets, 90 are being fought.
The authorities raised the alerts for this Thursday and Friday due to the risk that the fires spread to other regions due to the high temperatures forecast.
The flames devastated more than 343,000 hectares
The flames, which leave at least 24 dead and some 2,196 injured, have devastated more than 343,000 hectares in the regions of Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía and Maule, an area equivalent to one third of the territory of Puerto Rico.
The wave of forest fires has completely destroyed 1,205 homes and left 5,570 people homeless, according to the official balance.
Ivonne Rivas, mayoress of Tomé, one of the municipalities in which the curfewemphasized to Radio Cooperativa the importance of “giving some peace of mind to these families that have had a terrible time and are still having a bad time”.
Since the beginning of the week, opposition parties, mayors and organizations such as the Chilean Wood Corporation (Corma), which brings together forestry companies, have requested communal curfews.
About twenty people were arrested for their responsibility at the start of the fires.
The gigantic Ten Tanker in trouble
More than 5,600 firefighters and forest brigade members, With the help of contingents from Mexico, Colombia, Spain and Argentina, among other countries, they continue trying to extinguish the wave of fires.
The DC-10 Ten Tankerthe American firefighting aircraft capable of discharging 36,000 liters of water, He had problems again on Thursdayafter it resumed its operations after a previous mechanical failure.
The plane, the largest of its type available, arrived in Chile on Monday and began operations that same day. A faulty valve on his engine put him out of action on Tuesday afternoon. It was expected that it could only work again on Saturday.
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