Overview
- Officials confirm 19 deaths and more than 50,000 people evacuated, with 18 fatalities in Biobío and one in Ñuble.
- President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe and ordered nighttime curfews in the hardest-hit localities of Penco and Lirquén.
- Fire commanders say parts of the blaze remain totally out of control as temperatures exceed 30°C and winds strengthen.
- About 3,700–4,000 firefighters are engaged, and preliminary counts show hundreds of homes destroyed with the total likely to surpass 1,000.
- The fires ignited Saturday in the Ñuble and Biobío regions near Concepción; Penco’s mayor reports 14 deaths in that city and some hospitals were evacuated.