Overview
- Interior Minister Álvaro Elizalde confirmed 20 deaths, with many victims in Lirquén and Penco.
- More than 3,500 firefighters are battling 14 active fires that have burned about 35,000 hectares across Ñuble and Biobío, with spread into La Araucanía.
- Roughly 1,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, thousands were evacuated, 75 people were injured, and more than 500 are in shelters.
- Authorities imposed red alerts, a state of catastrophe and nighttime curfews, while deploying 75 aircraft and Army units to secure the worst-hit areas.
- Police detained a 50-year-old man in Penco on suspicion of trying to ignite vegetation, and President Gabriel Boric and president-elect José Antonio Kast made a joint appeal and outlined cooperation on reconstruction.