Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced a state of catastrophe in two regions in the south of the country early on Sunday as raging wildfires forced at least 20,000 people to evacuate.
According to Chile’s CONAF forestry agency, firefighters are battling 24 active fires across the country as of Sunday morning, with the largest being in the regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where the government declared the emergency. The regions are about 500 km south of the capital Santiago. “In light of the serious ongoing wildfires, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are available,” Boric said on a post on X.