The fires, which began yesterday, have affected the communes of Cabrero, Nacimiento and Santa Juana, where authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of hundreds of people from inhabited areas that were threatened by the flames, reported Radio Bio Bio.
Likewise, in the neighboring Ñuble region, in the municipalities of Chillan and Pinto, a Red alert was also declared while the Yellow alert was established throughout that territory after the fires endangered residential areas and even forced traffic to be cut in a major highway.
After conducting an Emergency Operational Committee (COE) to take measures against fires, the Bio Bio Mayor Sergio Giacaman stressed that shelters for the affected were enabled and reported that about 40 firefighters’ teams work in different parts of the region.
High temperatures, which have impacted central Chile during the week and high winds, allow the fast advance of flames while obstructing the work of the firefighters’ brigades that put out fires.
According to the meteorological authorities, the heat wave that affects the center of Chile with temperatures around 36 degrees Celsius would extend until Monday, in addition to drought, represent an important factor for the emergence and spread of bushfires.
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