During the afternoon of this Friday, a Red Alert was decreed for the commune of Santo Domingo, after the fire that affected the town. According to information from the Fire Department, the Mayor and Conaf, so far there has been a balance of 500 hectares consumed, 4 houses affected and no people injured.
After the Red Alert decreed by Onemi this Friday, the fight by Firefighters and Conaf against the forest fire called Hacienda San Enrique, which affects the Santo Domingo commune, Valparaíso region, is still ongoing.
The fire started on Friday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. Until now, 500 hectares have been consumed.
It is estimated that there would be around 4 houses affected, without people affected or injured. However, the incident continues out of control.
The mayor of Santo Domingo, Dino Lotito, clarified that during the emergency people were evacuated as a precaution. Also, he maintained that All the teams are working to contain the fire within the day.
In this sense, the communal chief explained that since it is a sector that is difficult to access, with pronounced ravines, it makes it difficult to control. In this way, he called on people to protect and prevent the spread of forest fires.
“We don’t have continuous houses, we don’t have dense urban sectors, but rather a rural area, they are isolated houses, and in some way, the same patio or natural firebreak that people develop helps a lot. but clearly The problem is that it consumes many hectares, because it advances quickly through the ravines. Sometimes it is difficult to access with trucks, with the Fire Department. They are precarious roadsLotto explained.
Fighting the fire since yesterday Friday in conjunction with Conaf
During the day on Friday, 5 brigades, 1 command post, 2 airplanes and 4 CONAF helicopters worked, together with the Santo Domingo Fire Department, among other communes.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, confirmed that they are working with more Conaf teams.
“Due to the wind factor, it is a complex fire that is generating the highest priority level for Conaf,” said Valenzuela.
Finally, a shelter was set up in the offices of the San Enrique Neighborhood Council, in order to be used if required.