Author: Samantha Flax
Co-authors: Alannah Giannino, Judy Wooley, Jonathan Idrovo
Fires in Chile as seen by Suomi NPP on January 20, 2017. Credit: NASA/NOAA/DoD
In January of 2017 Chile was struck with a series of devastating wild fires. These fires killed eleven people, destroyed almost two thousand homes, and thousands of acres of land. While the fire chiefs insist that there were many factors that caused these fires, environmental activists point to one main cause. They argue that the problem, like most in Chile, stems from policies enacted during the Pinochet regime that have never been addressed. In 1974, a government decree subsidized seventy percent of plantation costs. This helped to establish the importance of the forestry industry in Chile. Over the following decades, even after the return to democracy, the industry received eight hundred million dollars of tax payer money. This money mainly goes to the two largest forestry companies. As a result of the importance of plantations to the economy, there are very few regulations surrounding plantations– only that a prevention and management plan in case of fire be in place. When zoning plantations, firebreaks, which would prevent the spread of the flames into residential areas, are not required. Executives like Kimber defend these companies by saying they helped Chile recover from the socialist dictatorship. According to Sara Lorrain, a former presidential candidate, there are no evaluations of risk factors, and important precautions, such as fire breaks, are not used. These plantations, with trees that are predisposed to burning due to their thin limbs, reach to the edge of towns, making it easy for fires to spread.
The remains of homes in Santa Olga, a small hamlet in the Maule region. Credit: Pablo Vera Lisperguer/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
This is not the first time that fires have damaged Chilean land. Destructive fires also ravaged the country in 2014. Furthermore, despite the industry that likely caused the fires being so lucrative to the economy, the people in the communities that host these plantations are some of the poorest in the country. This is demonstrated in both Maule and La Araucania, two towns with high unemployment and poverty rates. Residents in the area, who have minimal access to potable water, resorted to fighting the fire with free branches and water bottles.
Hualañé, in central Chile, on Saturday. Credit: Cristobal Hernandez/Reuters
As many activists point out, more regulations need to be enacted because these fires will increase as climate change causes a hotter and dryer Chile.
Facts:
What are some of the reasons that the wildfires may have spread so fast?
Relaxed policies around timber farms, such as not requiring a fire break, as well as the plantations’ proximity to towns. Additionally, the trees themselves are dry and have expansive branches, which facilitates a fast spread of fire.
What two towns are demonstrative of the wealth disparity within Chile?
Maule and La Araucania are demonstrative of the wealth disparity in Chile.
Sources:
Kozak, Piotr. (2017, March 3). Did Pinochet-era deregulation cause Chile’s worst-ever wildfires? The Guardian. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/03/chile-wildfires-forestry-industry-plantations)
Bonnefoy, Pascale and Chan, Sewell. (2017, Jan 25). ‘The Greatest Forest Disaster in Our History’: Wildfires Tear Through Chile. New York Times. (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/world/americas/chile-wildfires.html)