Reuters. Chilean firefighters were battling to hold back forest fires on Monday (February 6) as locals and international volunteers worked to remove the debris left by the blaze.
The fires, which have consumed 270,000 hectares (667,000 acres) of land, have killed 26 people so far in south-central Chile, and already made 2023 the second worst year in terms of hectares burned after the so-called "fire storm" that hit the country in 2017.
The state National Forestry Corporation reported that as of Monday morning, there were 275 active fires, of which 69 were currently in combat as authorities said hot and dry weather would continue this week, potentially exacerbating what are already the deadliest blazes in the country's recent history.
A local from the Biobio region told he survived the fire by sheltering in a clay oven, as he knew the technique to make charcoal.
Chile is in the grip of an over decade-long period of dry weather, which the World Meteorological Organization called a "mega drought" last year, adding it was the longest in a thousand years and marked a major water crisis. The heat wave and strong winds have caused a rapid spread of the flames during the Southern Hemisphere summer season.
Between Sunday and Monday, aid arrived in Chile from Argentina, Spain and Mexico.
