The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) recently allocated half a million Swiss francs from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund to support the Chilean Red Cross in responding to large-scale forest fires that erupted in January in the Ñuble and Biobío regions. The fires spread rapidly due to extreme weather conditions and a sudden local wind phenomenon known as viento puelche, reaching densely populated neighborhoods within hours. Authorities declared a catastrophe on the same day, deploying the full national response system.
The emergency has caused significant humanitarian impacts, including the evacuation of around 50,000 people, loss of life, destruction of homes, disruption to livelihoods, and damage to critical infrastructure and basic services. The Chilean Red Cross had previously activated its simplified early action protocol for wildfires, releasing 95,000 CHF to assist 2,000 people.
A new analysis by World Weather Attribution found that human-induced climate change made the extreme fire weather in Chile and Argentina up to three times more likely, with La Niña playing a smaller role. The affected regions are experiencing up to 25 percent less rainfall than they would in a world without fossil-fuel-driven warming, while temperatures approached 40°C with winds around 40 kph, fueling the rapid spread of fires.
In Argentina, the Chubut province, which includes the Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has seen fires threaten ancient Alerce trees, some of the oldest living trees in the world. Scientists emphasize that human-driven warming combined with natural climate cycles has created dangerously dry conditions, turning fire risk from a future projection into a present crisis.
The fires have rapidly transformed iconic landscapes, glacial lakes, mountain towns, and peak summer tourism areas into evacuation zones along the eastern Andes. In Chile, proximity to flammable pine plantations and human settlements increases risks to lives and livelihoods, highlighting the urgent need to address both global emissions and local vulnerabilities.
The Chilean Red Cross has a long history of responding to wildfire emergencies, but rising fire frequency and intensity, exacerbated by climate change and unregulated urban expansion, have made these disasters increasingly severe, affecting multiple regions simultaneously.
