The timber union assured that in this emergency, 7 out of 10 fires registered in Bío Bío and 6 out of 10 in La Araucanía, are intentional and that there are even communes where intentionality exceeds 90%.
The Chilean Wood Corporation (Corma) alerted this Saturday about a sharp rise in intentionality in forest fires affecting the southern part of the country.
Specifically, the group expressed that today “7 out of 10 fires are intentional in Bío Bío and 6 out of 10 in La Araucanía. And there are even communes where this indicator exceeds 90%”.
The union affirmed that only in the last 48 hours, the partner forestry companies have reported a serious increase in intentional fires, even re-igniting in isolated areas, where they were already extinguished.
“The appearance of multifoci, where you can see fires lined up in the same place, shows one of the ways in which these organizations operate after intentional fires” they pointed out from Corma. In addition, they added that the same occurs with the fires that affect Coronel, Coihueco and Penco.
Next five days with risk of critical fires
The entity maintained that the emergency is far from over, assuring that the next five days present a critical scenario.
For this reason, they requested the authorities in charge of the States of Exceptionincrease patrols in the areas of greatest risk, given that fires are a public safety issue that affect the lives, homes, belongings and animals of the residents of rural territories.
So far this season, the Chilean Wood Corporation has indicated that there are 1,120 fires registered as intentional, to which are added complaints from neighbors and communities that ensure the existence of people intentionally setting fire, as well as an impediment for brigade members come in to fight the fire in certain places.
The union added that along with the above, arson attacks against machinery have intensified, thus generating new sources of fires in “criminal actions in the midst of the emergency that the country is experiencing.”
For this reason, the logging union insisted on the urgency of “intensifying the patrolling of the roads, the territorial control, to stop these criminals who are setting fire to and burning the south of Chile with total impunity.”
In this regard, from Corma they attached photos as part of the accusation of intentionality of the wave of fires in the central-south zone.
arsonist on the way to Curaco