A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire in front of a burning building as fire and smoke rise from a forest fire in the Biobio region where, according to local media, multiple wildfires prompted emergency evacuations, in Concepcion, Chile, January 18, 2026. Juan Gonzalez/Reuters
SANTIAGO—Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in two regions in the south of the country on Sunday as raging wildfires forced at least 20,000 people to evacuate and left at least 18 people dead.
According to Chile’s CONAF forestry agency, firefighters were battling 24 active fires across the country as of Sunday morning, with the largest being in the regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where the government declared the emergency. The regions are about 500 km south of the capital, Santiago.
