THE WILDFIRE SEASON HAS BEGUN
Summer is beginning and more than 5 wildfires have already occurred in La Florida's precordillera in the past month, once again in areas highly threatened by real estate expansion. These events remind us of the past fires in Bosque Panul.
Summer is beginning and more than 5 wildfires have already occurred in La Florida's precordillera in the past month, once again in areas highly threatened by real estate expansion. These events remind us of the fires that occurred in Bosque Panul in 2012, and put us on alert to begin a fire prevention campaign once again.
FIRES IN ALTO MACUL
During the month of December there have been about 5 wildfire outbreaks in the Native Precordilleran Forest of La Florida, specifically in the Alto Macul area, north of Bosque Panul. This area — which was formerly vineyards and native forest — has been razed over the past 20 years to build mega-condominiums, very similar to what they want to do in Panul. For years people fought to save the large forest mass that existed there, but the pressure of private interests, hand in hand with the authorities of the time, prevailed. Currently, the construction of the Macalto Project has led to increased flooding due to soil waterproofing and a significant rise in the district's temperature, creating what is known as urban heat islands.
This project is far from finished — each year hundreds more houses and buildings continue to be built — and this is why the fires set in this area are quickly linked to real estate companies, especially since the fire department's own forensic reports have stated they are completely intentional.
THE FIRES OF 2012
In December 2012, two intentional forest fires occurred in Bosque Panul, affecting nearly 36 hectares of native forest. The area covered by these fires almost perfectly matched the area of Gesterra's real estate project. These fires were largely controlled by the community — about 100 people responded to the call to protect their territory. You can read more details about these fires by CLICKING HERE.
THE COMMUNITY IS ON ALERT
The large number of visitors to Bosque Panul has meant that new fire threats have been quickly extinguished by visitors themselves; likewise, virtual reporting activates immediately when there is news about the precordillera. Social media has played a key role in Early Warning in recent years. This speaks to a highly empowered community that considers the territory its own and seeks to safeguard its safety at all costs.
Following the 2012 fires, Red Precordillera trained in wildfire management and prevention, and ran a series of workshops so that community members could gain this knowledge. These actions and concerns eventually led to the formation of an Emergency Brigade, composed of firefighters and residents of La Florida, to handle safety and rescue situations in the precordillera area, such as accident rescue and wildfire control. The Alto Florida Emergency Brigade has played an important role in fire prevention through its "La llama te llama" campaign and in suppressing the most recent fire events in Alto Macul.
EVERYONE MUST PREVENT FIRES
We are all responsible for what happens in our territory, and there is much we can do to prevent new wildfires.
- DO NOT MAKE CAMPFIRES — it is unnecessary, it is not cold in Santiago, and it only kills the soil, pollutes, and deforests as you cut branches.
- DO NOT SMOKE IN THE FOREST, and certainly do not throw a lit cigarette butt.
- TAKE YOUR WASTE WITH YOU — let us avoid accumulations of rubbish that serve as fuel.
What if a fire is already happening?
Immediately notify the Alto Florida Emergency Brigade at +569 9872 5756
Notify Red Precordillera on its social media.
Try to be as precise as possible about the location to avoid false alarms.
Cover photo credit: @diceroj
The content expressed in this article is the responsibility of its original authors and does not necessarily represent the views associated with the Panul Para Todos project.
The information archived in Archivo Panul was collected using automated tools, so there may be inconsistencies between what is presented here and the original link. You can visit the original link at the top of this article.