Santiago de Chile, December 25 (RHC)-- The National Emergency Office of the Ministry of Interior and Public Safety (Onemi) of Chile declared this Sunday that the red alert is canceled and declared yellow alert for the commune of Viña del Mar due to the forest fires that have been affecting the country for more than a week.

The Onemi report pointed out that the fire, called Nueva Esperanza, is "under control", and regarding the damage caused by this fire, the communal teams are still on the ground assessing the impact on people and damage to homes in the sector.

Two people died as a result of the fire, and the figures that corresponded to the 270 homes affected and 67 injured are being kept up to date, although "the level of damage to these homes will be confirmed when the survey of the Basic Emergency Files is completed," warned Onemi.  

For her part, the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá Morales emphasized that, although there are still active outbreaks, the fire "no longer represents a direct alert for the surrounding population."  She also reported that between Saturday and Sunday 70 forest fires have been fought throughout Chile, 38 of which are still active.

Local media have pointed out that firefighters corroborate that "unfortunately, they are irregular houses, which means that the construction is very light. Generally, made of wood. Therefore, the propagation is very fast".