Historic heat wave in Chile exacerbates forest fires

STORY: Six million people in Chile’s capital city Santiago woke on Friday to a haze of smoke and a public health alert as forest fires - fueled by a historic heat wave - sweep the country.

The capital on Thursday recorded the third highest temperature the city has seen in 111 years: 36.7 degrees Celsius. Metropolitan director of the National Emergency Office Miguel Munoz warned of dehydration.

"Not only is the fire increasing in intensity but also our CONAF wildfire fighters and firefighters have a greater exposure to dehydration and exposure to high temperatures, that also causes health problems."

The state-owned National Forestry Corporation said firefighters are also tackling 18 fires concentrated in the country's central regions, as well as a smaller number in the south. Farmer Alejandro Alvarado is afraid his family’s cows may have died.

"There are some cattle here belonging to an uncle of mine, and I don't know how we're going to find them, if they're dead. I think most of them are going to burn. In any case, we have to be positive, we have to ask (God) above us that hopefully the fire hasn't caught them.”

For now, all he can do is pour water on burnt branches, so they don’t catch fire again. It is estimated that the forest fires had burned more than 17,000 acres in the South American country.