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 strengthen the Chilean Red Cross’s response to the large-scale forest fires that began in January in the Ñuble and Biobío regions of central Chile. The fires rapidly spread due to adverse weather conditions and a sudden local wind phenomenon known as viento puelche, reaching highly populated areas within hours. Authorities declared a catastrophe immediately, deploying the full national response system. The emergency caused mass evacuations of around 50,000 people, loss of life, damage to homes, disruption of livelihoods, and interruptions to basic services and critical infrastructure.
Earlier, the Chilean Red Cross activated its simplified early action protocol for wildfires—the first of its kind globally—releasing 95,000 CHF to assist 2,000 people. Scientists have found that human-induced climate change made the fire weather in both Chile and Argentina up to three times more likely, with La Niña contributing to drier conditions to a lesser extent. The affected regions experienced temperatures near 40°C, winds of 40 km/h, and up to 25% less rainfall than would have occurred in a world without fossil fuel emissions.
In Argentina, the Chubut province, which includes the UNESCO-listed Los Alerces National Park in Patagonia, was heavily affected. Ancient Alerce trees, some thousands of years old, faced direct threat from the fires. Experts highlighted that the combination of human-induced warming and natural cycles such as La Niña has intensified aridity, creating conditions conducive to wildfires. Iconic landscapes, glacial lakes, mountain towns, and major summer tourism areas quickly became evacuation zones as fires spread along the eastern Andes.
Local exposure, such as the proximity of flammable pine plantations and urban settlements, further endangered lives and livelihoods. The Chilean Red Cross has historically responded to wildfires in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022–23, and 2024, but the increasing frequency and intensity of fires due to climate change and unregulated urban expansion has transformed these events into crises with widespread and severe impacts across multiple areas.
