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VALPARAISO. — Fire fighters backed by police and soldiers yesterday battled for a third day a massive blaze that killed 12 people and ravaged a huge swath of Chile’s historic port city of Valparaiso.
It could yet be another two or three days before they succeed in extinguishing the fire, officials warned, the worst to hit the city, consuming 2 000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee for their lives.

Some people who refused to leave their homes were killed when the inferno swept it.

Hardest hit have been Valparaiso’s poorer neighbourhoods, perched precariously on the coastal city’s tinder-dry hillsides, where dwellings built mostly of tin and wood quickly became engulfed in flames.

Thick smoke has settled over Valparaiso, and ash from the fire rained down on the city’s historic port, which so far has been spared the wrath of the blaze.

President Michelle Bachelet has declared the ravaged area a disaster zone, allowing the armed forces to assist in relief efforts and take control of security.

“We are in a situation of permanent emergency,” Bachelet’s Defense Minister Jorge Burgos told local radio, adding that the fire poses “a very complex situation.”

At least 11 helicopters, six planes and 2,000 police and soldiers, in addition to battalions of fire fighters, are battling the blaze. They were heartened yesterday by a forecast of cooler temperatures and higher humidity, which was expected to slow the fire’s advance.

The city, an architectural gem located about 120 kilometres from the capital city Santiago, is famed for its UNESCO-listed centre with cobblestone streets and brightly painted wooden homes.

The fire broke out on Saturday, and whipped up by winds quickly became a fast-moving inferno, so far destroying 850 hectares and forcing 10 000 people to evacuate. — AFP.