PENCO, Chile — Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighboring Ñuble region, around 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital.
The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in over two dozen active wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres), according to the national forestry agency.
In a press conference from the hard-hit city of Concepción in the Biobio region, Boric expressed his support and condolences to the victims and warned that the government’s initial reports of 18 people killed and 300 houses destroyed were expected to rise as the extent of the losses came into focus.
He estimated the total number of affected homes in the Biobio region alone to be “certainly more than a thousand, just so far.” Already the fires ravaging the hillsides forced 50,000 people to evacuate.
“The first priority, as you know, in these emergencies is always to fight and extinguish the fire. But we cannot forget, at any time, that there are human tragedies here, families who are suffering,” he said. “These are difficult times.”
His address followed complaints from local authorities that for hours, destruction was