Chile arrests firefighter who allegedly started deadly blaze in February | News

A firefighter and a forestry officer have been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire that killed 137 people in the town of Vina del Mar.

Chilean authorities have arrested a firefighter and a forestry official suspected of starting a blaze that killed 137 people in the resort town of Vina del Mar in February.

“An arrest warrant was issued today against the person who started the fires in February in the Valparaiso region,” where Vina del Mar is located, police director Eduardo Cerna said during a press conference.

A little later, the Valparaiso regional prosecutor's office confirmed the arrest of a second suspect, an official of the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), the body responsible for fighting forest fires and managing national parks.

The two men will be taken into custody on Saturday for arson causing death.

Several fires broke out simultaneously on February 2 around the coastal town of Vina del Mar, 110 km northwest of Santiago, the Chilean capital.

The inferno, the world's second deadliest this century, was fueled by winds and a heatwave that recorded temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Local media reported that the firefighter is a 22-year-old man who joined the volunteer ranks a year and a half ago.

“We are completely devastated by what happened, it is a totally isolated incident… we have been serving Valparaiso for over 170 years and we cannot allow such things to happen,” Vicente told reporters Maggiolo, commander of the 13th Fire Company of the city of Valparaiso.

“An intentional attack”

Ivan Navarro, head of the Environmental Crimes Investigative Authority, said detectives had pieced together what the arrested firefighter did before, during and after the fire.

“We were able to determine the exact locations where the fires broke out and trace the device that started them,” he said. “We were also able to determine the involvement of a second person, accused of being the mastermind of the arson.

“He provided him with the knowledge to make these devices and also told him the exact times it needed to operate for the fire to do more damage,” Navarro said.

Prosecutors investigators found the inferno started with small, simultaneous fires near Lake Penuelas in the port city of Valparaiso, near Vina del Mar. Hot, windy weather quickly spread the flames.

“There were about four outbreaks, equidistant from each other,” said prosecutor Osvaldo Ossandon.

The materials used to start the fire were found in the house of one of the suspects, he said. Investigators were also looking into potential links to other arsons.

It is not clear what the motive for the arson was.

“We all knew it was an intentional attack,” Vina del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said. “Today we can have that degree of certainty.”

Firefighters had been unable to reach the blaze due to a lack of roads or were stuck in the city's narrow streets lined with charred cars.

“It is above all an act of justice and reparation towards those who lost their lives in the fire, towards their families, towards those who lost all their property, their sources of work and their struggle until to this day,” said Interior Minister Carolina. Toha said.