Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires ravage Ñuble and Biobío

President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe for the central-southern regions of Ñuble and Biobío as an intense heat wave and strong winds propelled roughly two dozen wildfires that have killed at least 16 people and forced mass evacuations. Conaf and multiple news outlets reported firefighters battling 24 active fires across Chile on Sunday, with the most dangerous fronts concentrated in forests and dry scrublands near the coastal city of Concepción and nearby municipalities.

The emergency designation allows expanded coordination with the military and central agencies; Boric posted on X that he had declared the state of catastrophe and that “all resources are available.” Authorities and reporters described scenes of neighborhoods blanketed by smoke, charred vehicles and communities ringed by flames. Local media and official statements reported more than 250 properties destroyed; one municipality in Concepción said 253 homes had burned. Hospitals and care facilities were evacuated, including patients removed from Penco-Lirquén hospital as fires threatened coastal towns.

Evacuation totals vary by source. International outlets cited roughly 20,000 people moved to safety in Penco, Lirquén and surrounding areas, while Security Minister Luis Cordero was reported as saying as many as 50,000 people had been evacuated in earlier briefings. Casualty counts continued to be consolidated; initial statements from the Security Ministry cited 15 deaths in Biobío before national tallies reached 16 confirmed fatalities across the two regions.

Estimates of the area burned differed as crews worked to contain multiple blazes. Local reporting and the BBC cited roughly 20,000 hectares burned in Ñuble and Biobío, while other assessments placed the damaged area nearer to 8,500 hectares. Sky News reported nearly 33 square miles affected. Those discrepancies reflect rapidly changing conditions and differing methodologies for mapping fire perimeters as containment operations proceed.

Firefighting efforts were hampered by unusually high temperatures and strong, shifting winds. Much of Chile was under heat alerts with forecasts of temperatures up to about 38°C, compounding drought-driven vegetation dryness after years of below-average precipitation. Firefighters warned that wind-driven crown fires in eucalyptus and pine plantations presented particular containment challenges.

Local officials and residents criticized the pace of the initial response in some areas. Rodrigo Vera, mayor of Penco, pleaded for more presence on the ground, saying, “Dear President Boric, from the bottom of my heart, I have been here for four hours, a community is burning and there is no (government) presence.” Those complaints underscore strains on local emergency capacity amid simultaneous crises across the region.

Economically, the blazes threaten timber and agricultural assets, regional infrastructure and municipal budgets, and will likely impose significant cleanup and reconstruction costs. The Concepción area is a commercial and industrial hub whose short-term disruptions may affect supply chains and local labor markets. Insurers and financial markets will monitor losses closely, and the central government faces pressure to fund relief while balancing fiscal plans for the year.

Analysts linked the severity of this season to longer-term trends of prolonged drought and successive heat waves across Chile and neighboring Argentina, which saw major fires in Patagonia earlier this month. As rescue and damage assessments continue, officials emphasized that casualty, evacuation and acreage figures remain provisional while crews work to suppress active fire fronts and protect threatened communities.