Valparaiso Fire Leaves Dozens of People Homeless on Christmas Eve

(Photo : Reuters)

Dozens of people were left without a home after a fire had spread through a neighborhood occupied by low-income families in the city of Valparaíso, Chile.

The houses of Valparaíso in the Rocuant hill were the major casualties of the fire. Lots of houses in the neighborhood of low-income earning families with no available running water were part of the devastating Valparaiso fire.

In the event of extinguishing the fires, many helicopters had dropped water in the affected buildings in the city. The fire in Valparaíso had catastrophically destroyed a minimum of 150 houses on Wednesday. 

Hundreds of people living in the hills of Rocuan and San Roque had witnessed the aftermath of the fire. The residents of the area are now seeing what is left of their homes after a fire (strengthened and spread by strong winds) had ravaged through their houses. One good thing to take from the devastating event was that there were no casualties in the incident. 

According to the interior minister of the country named Gonzalo Blumel, out of the 150 houses that the fire had reached, some had been destroyed. He also said that the authorities investigating the incident believe that the cause of the fire was arson. The authorities are encouraging its people to report any observed suspicious acts by anyone in the community.

According to the emergency manager of Valparaíso named Ezio Passadorre, there is no certainty as to the real cause and motive of the fire. Based on the investigations conducted by Passadorre's team, the events point to a fire intentionally started because of its nearness to the houses in the area.

The homes that the fire destroyed were those of a neighborhood where running water is not available. The community only receives its water supply from tanks that are delivered to them a few times every week.

One of the other seen causes of the rapid spread of the flames from the Valparaiso fire was the intense temperatures of the summer season and the strong winds in the area.

Chile's wildfires are affecting the city of Valparaíso a couple of times already since the previous month. It is the worst record of drought experienced by the country.

During the fire, 90,000 customers' power connection was cut to prevent further damage in the community. 2 schools in the area were used to provide shelter to the victims of the fire. The residents were in the middle of celebrating Christmas Eve when they were asked to flee from their homes.

Jorge Sharp, city's mayor, had declared approximately 100 km of the city under a state of emergency.

There was a video posted on social media that revealed a next that had been parked beside the place where the fire had begun. The authorities are currently studying the video. Residents were also sharing their observations of cars they have seen before the Valparaiso fire had spread in their neighborhood.

According to Antonio Walker, the Agriculture Minister of the country, he admitted that the firefighters had difficulties in extinguishing the fires.