Forest Fire (40563 ha) in Chile 02 Feb 2023

Event summary

This forest fire can have a high humanitarian impact based on the and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID WF 1012119
Countries: Chile
Start Date - Last detection*: 02 Feb 2023 - 15 Feb 2023
Duration (days): 13
People affected: 3946 in the burned area
Burned area: 40563 ha
More Info: Global Wildfire Information System

*(Last detection of the thermal anomaly of the fire)

GDACS Score

Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Forest fire in Chile - EC/ECHO daily mapWed, 15 Feb 2023 18:06

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
Chile - Wildfires, update (ECHO 16 Feb 2023)Thu, 16 Feb 2023 10:58

  • Wildfires continue to affect central Chile, particularly the regions of Bío Bío, Ñuble, Maule, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, and Los Lagos.
  • According to the Chilean National Office of Emergency (SINAPRED), the number of fatalities has increased to 25 people, 3,034 individuals sustained injuries. As of 15 February, there are 324 people in public shelters and more than 7,040 persons have been affected by wildfires, which destroyed 1,504 houses and damaged more than 900.
  • The number of burned areas since January 2023 across Chile has reached more than 432,170 ha.
  • Following Chile’s request for assistance from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) so far three countries offered assistance and over 250 emergency responders had been deployed to Chile through the UCPM, alongside with a Liaison Officer from the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre's and an EU Civil Protection Team.
  • On 16-18 February, the fire danger forecast is mostly extreme over central Chile, specifically from Region Metropolitana to Rios, according to the JRC Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS).
Forest fire in Chile - JRC emergency reportSun, 05 Feb 2023 22:08

A new JRC Emergency report is now available
Chile - Wildfires, update (ECHO 03 Mar 2023)Fri, 03 Mar 2023 11:12

  • Active fires are still burning across the Regions of Bíobío, Ñuble, Maule, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, and Magallanes (central Chile). As of 1 March, more than 442,000 ha of land has been affected by fires according to the latest report of SENAPRED.
  • The same source records 26 fatalities (17 in Bíobío, eight in La Araucanía and one in Ñuble), 233 sheltered people, more than 7,500 affected and almost 4,000 damaged or destroyed houses across the Regions of Santiago, O’Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos.
  • Following Chile's request for assistance from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) three countries offered assistance and over 260 emergency responders were deployed to the most affected areas through the UCPM, alongside with a Liaison Officer and an EU Civil Protection Team. All teams completed their mission and returned or on their way back to Europe.
  • The Copernicus Emergency Management System was activated in rapid mapping mode () on 6 February and 40 maps have been produced so far.
  • On 3-4 March the fire danger forecast is from high to extreme over central and northern Chile.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Articles: 165 | About casualties: 26 | Last hour: 0

South Korea provides aid to Chile, affected by forest fires2023-02-24T18:43+0100.

Seoul, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) The South Korean government will provide humanitarian help worth 100,000 dollars to Chile, hit by huge forest fires, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today in the capital. The Foreign Ministry stated
...(more)
Monsalve rules out armed attack on aircraft fighting forest fires | Na ... 2023-02-24T16:39+0100.

The Undersecretary of the Interior ruled out attacks on aircraft that are fighting the emergency in the south of the country. He affirmed that no institution has a record or denounces regarding this fact. After the National Disaster Risk M
...(more)
S. Korea to offer US$100,000 in aid to Chile over forest fire damage2023-02-24T03:16+0100.

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has decided to provide Chile with US$100,000 worth of humanitarian aid, as a series of wildfires has swept across the country, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. "We hope this assistance helps the C
...(more)
Chile: Wildfires kill over 17,000 animals2023-02-23T00:23+0100.

Santiago de Chile, Feb 22 (Prensa Latina) Over 17,000 farm animals died as consequence of wildfires ravaging center-south Chile, as reported by the National Institute of Agricultural Development (INDAP). According to INDAP, out of dead ani
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: (2), EC-JRC (27), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), INFORM (2), JRC (1),