Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and former forestry official of causing huge blaze that killed 137 people

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean judge on Saturday ordered the detention of a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official for allegedly planning and causing a massive forest fire in the Valparaiso region that left 137 dead and left 16,000 people homeless in February.

The Valparaiso court ruled that the two men, arrested Friday, could be detained for 180 days while they are investigated.

The attorney general handling the case, Osvaldo Ossandón, told reporters that the main suspect is Francisco Mondaca, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter from Valparaiso, who is accused of physically starting the fire. He said flares and fireworks were found in Mondaca's vehicle.

The other suspect was identified as Franco Pinto, a former employee of the National Forestry Company. He is accused of planning the crime.

Valparaiso Regional Prosecutor Claudia Perivancich said investigators had evidence that the two men agreed “in advance to conduct this type of conduct when weather conditions were suitable.”

Prosecutors said that, according to Mondaca's testimony, there was an economic motive behind the plot: to provide more work fighting fires. They said they were not ruling out the possibility that more people were involved.

Valparaiso Fire Commander Vicente Maggiolo said: “We are very dismayed by the situation.”

Maggiolo called it an isolated incident and said it should not tarnish the work of firefighters. “We have been saving lives for over 170 years,” he told TVN.

Christian Little, executive director of the Forestry Department, called the detention of a former official “distressing” for the agency.

The fire department and forestry agency announced they would tighten hiring procedures.

The mega-fire started on February 2 in the Lago Peñuelas nature reserve, in the central region of Chile, and burned several communities for several days, destroying more than 10,000 houses. This is the worst tragedy to hit Chile since the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 500 people on February 27, 2010.

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