Now there are varying
reports of the casualties and no. Of houses destroyed ..... between 4 to 11
lives; close to 1000 houses destroyed ~ and thousands of people evacuated after
a devastating fire rummaged Chile, now declared a 'catastrophe zone' by
country's president. Daily Mail, BBC and
many other news channels report that huge fire started in Valparaiso, a coastal
city 75 miles from Santiago. The armed
forces have been called in to maintain law and order in the city while
thousands of people were evacuated. Reports state that huge numbers of homes -
many in the steep hills around the city itself - as well as a women's prison
were emptied of their residents in a bid to save them from the destruction.
Firefighters were having difficulty combating the blaze because of the
topography of the city, which is surrounded by dozens of steep hills where most
people live.
President Michelle Bachelet
has declared the city a catastrophe zone, which allows the army to step in and
take charge of the evacuations. Ricardo Bravo, the area's regional governor,
called the blaze 'the worst disaster ever seen.' Thick clouds of smoke
surrounded the city's prison and nine pregnant inmates were transferred to a
detention facility in the nearby city of Quillota. Prison authorities were
evacuating another 204 female inmates to a sports arena. The remaining 2,700
male inmates will stay at the prison for the time being, prison guard commander
Tulio Arce said.
While firefighters, police and forest rangers battled the
blaze, Chilean marines in combat gear patrolled streets in the city to maintain
order and prevent looting. Valparaiso, about 120 kilometers (75 miles)
northwest of the capital, Santiago, is home to Chile's national legislature.
A wildfire also called forest fire
is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs
in the countryside or a wilderness area.
A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at
which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change
direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and
fire breaks. Wildfires are characterized in terms of the cause of ignition,
their physical properties such as speed of propagation, the combustible
material present, and the effect of weather on the fire.
With concern
S. Sampathkumar
13th Apr 2014 @ 08.45 pm.
Photo credit : Daily Mail & other news channels.
