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Aerial view of burned houses after a forest fire in the El Olivar neighbourhood, Viña Del Mar, Chile, taken on 8 February 2024. Firefighters said Wednesday they had extinguished all wildfires in Chile’s coastal region of Valparaiso, where flames razed entire communities and left 131 dead. (Photo by Javier Torres / AFP)
- A firefighter in
Chile was arrested for allegedly starting a blaze in Vina del Mar in February,
resulting in 137 deaths. - The fires, which
were the second deadliest in the world this century, were fuelled by high
temperatures and winds. - Evidence linking
the firefighter to the fires was found, and the incident is considered an
intentional act.
A
firefighter was arrested Friday in Chile on suspicion of starting a blaze in
February that killed 137 people in the resort city of Vina del Mar, authorities
said.
“An
arrest warrant was issued today against the person who started the fires in
February in the Valparaiso region,” where Vina del Mar is located, police
director Eduardo Cerna told a news conference.
Several
fires broke out simultaneously on 2 February around the coastal city of Vina
del Mar, 110 kilometres northwest of Chile’s capital, Santiago.
The
inferno, the second deadliest in the world this century, was fueled by winds
and a heatwave that saw temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius.
Local media
reported the firefighter is a 22-year-old man who joined the volunteer force a
year and a half ago.
“We
are completely devastated by what happened, it is a totally isolated
incident… we have served Valparaiso for more than 170 years and cannot allow
such things,” Vicente Maggiolo, commander of the 13th Fire Company of the
city of Valparaiso, told reporters.
Certainty
Public
Ministry investigators found the inferno started with small simultaneous blazes
near Lake Penuelas, in the port city of Valparaiso next to Vina del Mar. Hot
and windy weather quickly spread the flames.
“There
were approximately four outbreaks, equidistant from each other,”
prosecutor Osvaldo Ossandon said.
Materials
used to start the fire were found in the suspect’s house, he said.
Investigators were also probing potential links to other arson incidents.
It was
unclear what the suspect’s motive was.
“All
of us … knew that this had been an intentional attack,” Vina del Mar
Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said. “Today we can have that degree of
certainty.”
Firefighters
had been unable to reach the fire due to lack of roads or were stuck on narrow
city streets lined with charred cars.
“This
is, first and foremost, an act of justice and reparation to those who lost
their lives in the fire, to their families, to those who lost all their
property, their sources of work and struggle to this day,” Interior
Minister Carolina Toha said.
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