VALPARAISO, Chile - A raging fire leaped from hilltop to hilltop in this colorful Chilean port city and stubbornly burned out of control in places more than 24 hours later, killing 12 people and destroying at least 2,000 homes. More than 10,000 people were evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
With hot dry winds stoking the embers, some of the fires that authorities had declared contained broke out again as a second night fell.
The fire began Saturday afternoon in a forest above ramshackle housing on one of the city’s 42 hilltops and spread quickly as high winds blowing seaward rained hot ash over wooden houses and narrow streets. Electricity failed as the fire grew, with towering, sparking flames turning the night sky orange over a darkening, destroyed horizon.
Eventually, neighborhoods on six hilltops were reduced to ashes, including one hill just several blocks from Chile’s parliament building. Flames later broke out again on at least two of those hills, burning out of control and threatening to consume other neighborhoods.
“It’s a tremendous tragedy. This could be the worst fire in the city’s history,” President Michelle Bachelet said as firefighters contained most of the blazes, mobilizing 20 helicopters and planes to drop water on hot spots Sunday.
The fire destroyed at least 2,000 houses by Sunday evening, and the death toll rose to 12, Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said. Authorities warned that the toll could rise once the fires cool enough for them to search for bodies. Patricio Bustos, who directs the national forensics service, said DNA tests would be needed to identify some of the remains. More than 500 people were treated at hospitals, mostly for smoke inhalation.
With so many hills aflame, water was in short supply even in established neighborhoods downhill. A water emergency was declared, cutting off nonessential supplies.
It was already the worst fire to hit the picturesque seaside city of 250,000 people since 1953, when 50 people were killed and every structure was destroyed on several of the city’s hills.
While the fires were contained to the hills, Bachelet declared the entire city a catastrophe zone, putting Chile’s military in charge of maintaining order. “The people of Valparaiso have courage, have strength and they aren’t alone,” Bachelet said.
Valparaiso, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003, is known for colorful neighborhoods hugging hills so steep that people have to use staircases rather than streets. About 75 miles northwest of the capital, Santiago, it has a vibrant port and is home to Chile’s national legislature.
But many homes in poorer areas above the city center have been built without water supplies or access points wide enough for firetrucks, so much of the fight was from the air.
“This is the worst catastrophe I’ve seen,” said Ricardo Bravo, the regional governor. “Now we have to make sure the fire doesn’t reach the city center, which would make this emergency much more serious.”
While 1,250 firefighters, police and forest rangers battled the blaze, 2,000 Chilean sailors in combat gear patrolled streets to maintain order and prevent looting.
Shelters were overflowing.
Maria Elizabeth Diaz, eight months pregnant and trying to rest with her two sons in a shelter set up in Valparaiso’s Greek School, said she had been hesitant to flee her home in Cerro Las Canas when she first learned that the hilltop above her was on fire.
“I didn’t want to move because I was afraid they’d rob me, but I had to flee when I saw the fire was coming down the hill,” she said. “I lost everything. Now I’ve been ordered to rest because I was having contractions. My little one knows that he can’t arrive quite yet.”
Thick clouds of smoke surrounded the city prison, where nine pregnant inmates were transferred to a detention facility in the nearby city of Quillota. Another 204 female inmates were being evacuated to a sports arena. More than 2,700 male inmates will remain at the prison for now, prison guard commander Tulio Arce said. Information for this article was contributed by Eva Vergara of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/14/2014