By Jorge Poblete January 27 2017
Chile’s worst ever wildfires threatened the city of Concepcion
and the nation’s wine industry Friday, a day after flames destroyed a
town about 200 miles south of the nation’s capital.
President
Michelle Bachelet’s office said the fires had killed 11 people, forced
the evacuation of more than 5,000 and burned nearly 900,000 acres,
mainly forests.
Most of the evacuees come from the town of Santa Olga, southwest of Santiago, which was destroyed Thursday.
“We
are facing a serious situation and can only succeed if we work
together,” Bachelet told reporters Friday morning after coordinating
relief efforts at a meeting at the La Moneda presidential
palace. Earlier in the week, Bachelet said the fires were the worst in
the country’s history.
The government said Friday that as many as 65 separate fires continued to burn out of control.
Felipe
Neira, president of Itata Valley winemakers association, said in a
telephone interview that the industry, which is mostly concentrated in
central Chile, so far had had lost about 100 acres of vineyards to the
fires but that 1,250 acres were in jeopardy. LATimes
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