Valparaiso fire: thousands evacuated as blaze threatens Chilean city
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Version 0 of 1. Thousands of people were evacuated from around the Chilean port city of Valparaiso as a forest fire raged out of control, emergency service agency Onemi said. Roughly 4,500 people were told to leave the city and neighbouring Vina del Mar on Friday. The fire was advancing rapidly, and the numbers being evacuated could rise to 16,000 depending on how the fire progressed, the interior ministry said. The blaze, fanned and spread by high winds, led authorities to declare a state of catastrophe in the area. Three firefighters were taken to hospital with injuries and one woman died of cardio-respiratory causes, authorities said. The fire began in a refuse dump and quickly burnt out 300 hectares (740 acres). As night fell firefighters were working to keep the flames from reaching populated areas of Valparaiso, a hilly city of mostly wooden houses that is part gritty low-income and part artistic tourist retreat. The city, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2003, is known for colourful neighbourhoods hugging hills so steep that people use stairs rather than streets. About 75 miles (120km) north-west of the capital, Santiago, it has a vibrant port and is home to Chile’s national legislature. Forest fires are common in Chile around March and have been particularly savage this year after a hot, dry summer. In 2014 a fire in Valparaiso killed 15 people and consumed more than 2,000 homes. |