A firefighter was arrested Friday in Chile, suspected of being at the origin of the fire which killed 137 people in early February in the city of Viña del Mar and which shocked the country.
• Read also: A record number of climate disasters in Latin America in 2023
• Read also: Forest fires break records in Brazil
“An arrest warrant was issued today against the author of the fires that occurred in February in the Valparaiso region”, where the city of Viña del Mar is located, declared the director of police Eduardo Cerna, in a press conference organized at the end of the investigation.
The fire started on February 2 around the town of Viña del Mar, located in the tourist region of Valparaiso, in central Chile.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the fire started from small simultaneous fires that broke out near Lake Peñuelas, located near the tourist towns of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso.
The flames spread quickly due to the heat and gusty winds.
In total, 137 people died and 16,000 were affected, according to official figures.
“Field work, evidence collection, analysis and cross-checking of information made it possible to locate, establish behavioral patterns and geographic data of movements” of the arrested firefighter, Mr. Cerna said.
According to local media, this 22-year-old man joined the fire brigade, which is made up of volunteers in Chile, a year and a half ago.
“We are completely devastated by what happened, this is a completely isolated incident […] we have been taking care of Valparaiso for more than 170 years and we cannot allow such things,” Vicente Maggiolo, commander of the 13th, told the press.e Valparaiso City Fire Company.
Evidence from the suspect
From the start, local authorities claimed it was arson.
“All the residents of Viña del Mar knew that it was a voluntary act […] and today we can have this degree of certainty,” declared the mayor of this city, Macarena Ripamonti.
Firefighters were unable to put out the fire due to the lack of roads or because they found themselves stuck in the narrow accesses to the city.
“There were about four outbreaks, equidistant from each other,” said Osvaldo Ossandón, a prosecutor specializing in fires.
Elements with which he started the fire were found in the house of the arrested suspect and an investigation is underway to determine whether he was involved in other previous fires, the prosecutor added.
This arrest constitutes “an act of justice […] for those who lost their lives in the fire, for their families, for those who lost all their possessions, their jobs and who are still fighting today,” said Interior Minister Carolina Toha.
