A large wildfire burning in the Bío-Bío region of central Chile
killed one man and forced more than 600 people from their homes in the
first days of 2012. Active fire fronts are outlined in red in this image
taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on January 2. The large fire is one of several that MODIS detected near the cities of Concepción and Chillán.
The wildfire is burning through both commercial pine and eucalyptus
forest and native forest. As of January 4, it has burned more than
13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) causing more than 40 million dollars in
damage. Since igniting on December 31, the fire has destroyed 162 homes
and a wood manufacturing plant, said local news reports.
Warm temperatures and dry conditions contributed to the spread of
fires throughout Chile in late December and early January. In southern
Chile, another large fire burned more than 30,000 acres of native forest
in Torres del Paine National Park. Clouds have prevented MODIS from
imaging the fire. Though fire conditions are extreme, officials suspect
that people started both fires.
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