Chile Declares Emergency as Wildfires Kill 19
The Facts
- The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, declared a state of catastrophe in the Ñuble and Biobío regions on Sunday. The announcement frees up additional resources and military support to combat the wildfires spreading across the South American country.
- At least 19 people have been killed in the wildfires to date, with Boric warning that the death toll is "certain" to rise. Authorities have evacuated over 50,000 people so far and recorded roughly 325 homes destroyed.
- In its last update, Chile's forestry agency (CONAF) announced that firefighters were still battling 23 active fires across the country at 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, with the largest blazes recorded in the Biobío region, covering approximately 23,340 hectares of land.
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The Spin
Climate activist narrative
Chile's wildfires are part of an unfolding climate catastrophe, exacerbated by decades of government policies that have left communities without the basic infrastructure needed to mitigate this risk. Having been born of fossil fuel emissions and capitalist neglect, this tragedy demands an environmentalist and socialist solution to resolve it.
Climate-skeptic narrative
Climate change is not the main cause of wildfires; instead, the fuel present on the ground is what matters. Wildfires, much larger than those we see today, have been a natural part of the environment for time immemorial. Their occurrence can be attributed to a simple combination of dry weather and abundant dry kindling, both of which are prevalent in Chile.
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