“I want to start by sending a big hug to all the families who have been affected by this fire, this tragedy. Know that we are with you, we are going to be permanently on the ground, not only now in the fight against the emergency, but in everything that comes after.” President Gabriel Boric made this statement publicly, after finishing a meeting with local and national authorities and after flying over and touring the area affected by fires in the commune of Viña del Mar.
The President said that they are working with municipal, regional, provincial and national authorities, to deliver “all the support that is necessary.” In addition, he thanked the work of Firefighters, Conaf, Carabineros, health teams, and all the institutions that have contributed to control the fire that is still “contained”, but in combat.
President Boric also valued the work with Governor Rodrigo Mundaca, Mayor Macarena Ripamonti, regional delegate Sofía González, in addition to what was done by the Police, the Armed Forces, as well as the work of the Ministry of Social Development, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Health and Public Works.
Gabriel Boric, who met with his cabinet before getting on a helicopter that took him to the Garden City, confirmed that all the protocols in force for this type of tragedy have been activated, highlighting in this line the decree of State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe in the area.
“We are also working with the Prosecutor’s Office, with the Investigative Police, to establish whether or not there was intentionality here, there are different lines of investigation and know that if there is intentionality we will move sky, sea and land to find those responsible,” he said.
President Boric’s call, however, is responsibility, since most of the fires that are caused “are the product of the irresponsibility of human beings.” And, with temperatures above 36, 37 degrees, “it is very likely that this will ignite much further,” he added.
“We have to improve planning and territorial ordering and what is happening today here in the hills of Viña del Mar can not be news only for one, two, three or four days, we have to take advantage of it to carry out a management, a contingency plan that allows us to prevent. The resources that we are releasing are also going to be established to make fire lines not only here, but also in other sectors of the area and, also, in other regions so that, hopefully, we do not have to see this. But the main thing is prevention.”
Finally, the President thanked “those who raise solidarity and realize that, at the end of the day, when we put ourselves behind a common goal, like Chile, as Chileans, we move forward.”
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