Valparaiso fire

Death, evacuation, destruction of houses ... the second city in the country, registered in the world heritage is threatened by a huge fire.

More than 10,000 people were evacuated Sunday after this huge fire with a balance increased to sixteen dead, according to the authorities.

The fire broke out Saturday afternoon to Polvora, on the outskirts of Valparaiso, destroying 15 hectares of eucalyptus plantations, pastures and bushes, according to Onemi. The flames were quickly spread fanned by strong winds, winning 44 hills overlooking the bay. To contain the blaze the firefighters of Valparaiso, helped by companies of localities near, as well as reinforcements from Santiago fought all night to prevent the fire from spreading to the city center and some 20 helicopters have been dump water. More than 800 hectares were ravaged by fire, and some homes are still active, making the authorities fear they may be revived by the heat in the region and strong winds.

To date, a thousand people are still living in emergency shelters, more than 1,500 families are still without electricity and 11,000 tons of rubble were removed from the disaster area. The poorest neighborhoods of Valparaiso, often made up of little more than wooden huts, were worst affected.

But some people had refused to leave their stuff, fearing that looters would steal their possessions, like Arturo Gomez who told to the AFP news agency: ""I will not let go of what little I have," "This represents 15 years of effort. My wife and my four children are in a shelter."

On Sunday, Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean President, declared the area destroyed by the fire a disaster zone. The government said it would send 500 million Chilean pesos to help the clean-up effort in Valparaiso, and promised more help would be given. She also said that the state would make "available all possible resources to confront this tragedy, first, with the relocation and support for families affected and as a second phase, reconstruction".

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