VALPARAISO, chile — A raging fire leaped from hilltop to hilltop in this colorful port city throughout the night and day Sunday, killing at least 12 people and destroying at least 2,000 homes. More than 10,000 people were evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
With hot dry winds stoking the embers, the fires were still burning out of control as a second night approached.
The blaze began Saturday afternoon in a forested area above ramshackle housing on one of the city’s 42 hilltops, and spread quickly as hot ash rained down over wooden houses and narrow streets. Electricity failed as the fire grew, with towering, sparking flames turning the night sky orange over a darkening, destroyed horizon.
Eventually, neighborhoods on six hilltops were reduced to ashes, including one hill just several blocks from Chile’s parliament building. And flames broke out again on at least two of those hills, burning out of control and threatening to consume other neighborhoods.
“It’s a tremendous tragedy. This could be the worst fire in the city’s history,” said President Michelle Bachelet as firefighters contained most of the blazes, mobilizing 20 helicopters and planes to drop water on hot spots Sunday.
The fire has destroyed 2,000 houses so far, and authorities warned that the toll of death and damage could rise once authorities can enter the remains. Military Police Gen. Julio Pineda said 11 people were killed. Earlier Sunday, he said 16 died, but it turned out one family had been counted twice. More than 500 people were treated at hospitals, mostly for smoke inhalation.
Patricio Bustos, who directs the national forensics service, said DNA tests would be needed to identify some of the remains.
It was already the worst fire to hit the picturesque seaside city of 250,000 people since 1953, when 50 people were killed and every structure was destroyed on several of the city’s hills.
While the fires were contained to the hills, Bachelet declared the entire city a catastrophe zone, putting Chile’s military in charge of maintaining order.
Valparaiso, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003, is known for colorful neighborhoods hugging hills so steep that people use staircases rather than streets. But many homes in densely populated poorer areas were built without water supplies or access points wide enough for fire trucks, so much of the fight was from the air.
