Chile Forest Fires–Climate Change?
By Paul Homewood
h/t Paul Kolk
Blame it on climate change!
The Valparaíso region of Chile is wealthy and densely populated, but last Friday there was little to warn residents living in the green hills and valleys that a firestorm packing the power of several hydrogen bombs was to hit.
Fabiola Camilla, a 31-year-old mother of two, watched her seven-year-old daughter playing at her birthday party. She recalled nothing out of the ordinary, other than the warm, dry weather the currents of El Niño had brought to an area known locally as the Jewel of the Pacific.
There was also a fierce wind, said Misael Vergara Tapia, a resident of the neighbouring village of Achupallas. “A hot wind … a wind we had never felt before.”
From this idyll erupted hell. Moments later, fire was leaping from house to house, setting entire neighbourhoods ablaze and threatening the lives of thousands. “It was like a tornado of fire,” said Misael, 67. “In five minutes, you couldn’t see more than half a metre in front of you. Everyone was shouting, calling for their family. People died on the streets, in their cars.”
The wildfire is the worst disaster to hit Chile for more than a decade. At least 131 people have died, with a further 370 still missing. The hillside neighbourhoods it ripped through, destroying more 15,000 homes, are now a scorched wasteland of broken cement and steel.
Firestorms of this magnitude are a terrifying phenomenon, moving so fast and with such energy that they can kill people hundreds of metres away through radiant heat alone. But it is not unique.
Hawaii, California, France, Portugal, Canada, Greece and Australia have all been hit in recent years. In July 2022, when temperatures reached 40C for the first time in the UK, the residents of Wennington in east London witnessed nearly 20 houses burn down in a matter of minutes. The spark was a compost heap that had spontaneously combusted.
Experts are now asking: What’s causing these infernos? And is there anything that can be done to stop them?
Chile’s forest fire, like most, was preceded by unusually high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds.
The blaze started at midday in forested mountainous areas, and by the afternoon had swept northwards into the city of Viña del Mar, home to 330,000 people, and the smaller urban areas of Quilpué, Limache, and Villa Alemana.
Wildfires have become three times as common in Chile in recent years, according to a recent report in Nature.
Officials say some are started intentionally and that extreme weather conditions – “fire weather” – are responsible for their rapid spread.
“Fires are increasing due to the combination of El Niño and global warming,” said Dr Raúl Cordero, climate professor at the University of Groningen and the University of Santiago.
“The years where fires are more frequent are the years of El Niño. The effects of global warming on the weather cannot be ignored anymore.”
Dr Cordero says that the main anomaly on the day of last week’s inferno was the extreme temperatures. “In the epicentre, on Friday and Saturday, it was 36 degrees – a likely all-time record for this city,” he said.
Climate change?
No.
Quietly tucked away near the end of the Telegraph report is the real reason:
Forestry is actually very big business in Chile.
https://academic.oup.com/jof/article/114/5/562/4599759?login=false
The Valparaiso region is in the central region of Chile, which has a Mediterranean climate. In other words, one which during El Nino is very hot and dry, and therefore prone to fires.
And it is this region where the native forests have been almost totally replaced by invasive species, including eucalyptus. Most of the clearing of native forests has taken place in recent decades:
https://www.wri.org/research/chiles-frontier-forests
https://academic.oup.com/jof/article/114/5/562/4599759?login=false
As noted, eucalyptus accounts for about a third of plantations.
Is it any wonder these fires spread so rapidly nowadays.
Most fires in Chile occur up in the mountains well away from civilisation. But sooner or later, this tragedy was bound to occur.
Climate change has nothing to do with it.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
power of several hydrogen bombs
[citation needed]
Cirrusly?
my thought exactly, you cheeky little punner
No, but it would be untypical for the climate grifters to miss an opportunity.
It’s a good job we have experts like Paul to correct the false news stories we get from the media.
So what IS the power of a hydrogen bomb … How “big” is a bomb ? please relate size to Single Decker buses or Shinty fields (sarc)
I still prefer blue whales, having been to the Natural History Museum and bowls of petunias are not appreciated.
The world recognized unit of power is Hiroshima bombs.
One Hb is about 20 kilotons of TNT.
An average Hb is about one million tons of TNT
∴ one Hb = 50 Hb
Let’s call ‘several’ three.
So Valparaíso was hit with 150 Hiroshima bombs, and only 131 people died.
Hmm, struggling to comprehend that. Valparaíso by name ONLY, not in nature ( vaporised ). But Sir, TNT has been taken over by FedEx, so how many Fedex’s is that ? …. and as I’m told that in Inverness or Nairn somewhere, it’ll be TWO and ANOTHER one ! Bit short of Glucose sugar at the Mo’.
I was also intrigued by this bomb equivalent claim ( I’m into the invention of new units as you may have realised) and found this possibly “credible” source discussing Australian wildfire research.
“The amount of energy released by the fires was estimated to be equivalent to around 1,500 Hiroshima atomic bombs. In some situations, the fires produced sufficient radiant heat to kill people 400 metres away. “
https://www.science.org.au/curious/bushfires
At first glance they seem a reliable source BUT….the last few paragraphs run into the “could, possibly, maybe” unverified climate change attribution which always makes me suspicious. Copious real data to begin with followed by brief unsupported conjecture always makes me dubious…And then you see the “donate” button so not exactly who they appear to be.
I am going to do more checking on this because, like you, I find it very hard to believe that level of energy intensity would not be vastly more devastating.
The presence of eucalyptus trees has nothing to do with it of course!
I think this is what burned:
32°59’43.90″ S 71°31’54.07″ W
Like Lahaina, it didn’t occur to anyone that, “Hey, this stuff can burn!”
Jesus had views on house-building and I’m sure he would have agreed on the unwisdom of building among combustible trees.
teres
I Found this interesting piece on wildfires and eucalyptus trees :-
https://firesafemarin.org/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-eucalyptus-trees/#gsc.tab=0
If you look at the El Nino graph from the Aussie BoM,
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/indices.shtml
the start of the rise out of La Nina corresponds exactly with the Hunga ha’apei volcano which dumped 150M tonnes of water into the stratosphere, causing significant warming.
It is notable that according to Roy Spenser’s tables,
https://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/
that atmospheric warming seems seems to have topped out, the same as the El Nino seems to have – although I’m with Yogi Berra on predictions.
That proves nothing, but it’s an interesting co-relation.
The area around Monchique in Southern Portugal is almost 100% Eucalyptus Forest , some of which is utilised for paper making . In 2018 a massive fire destroyed thousands of acres of forest . Having destroyed their native Oak forests in the 19 th century , the perfectly suited Eucalyptus was introduced with its tradition of becoming an inferno, just as in Chile !
Or California. Or Australia.
Rui Ventura
Probably an AI modified video but who knows these days ?
I wonder what the latest Japanese eruption will provide us with. “Year without a summer”, anyone?!
Compost heaps spontaneously combusting has nothing whatsoever to do with hot temperatures. It’s just bad management of compost.
Reminds me . . . when I was a kid, I would occasionally see sawdust piles from where they had cut up pine forests. Piles as high as 20 feet. We would dig into them by hand a few feet, they’d be boiling hot. The bottom centers of them would be coked.
I’ve always thought it was from compression heating, but they got so hot it now seems more was at play.
Wet hay, wet grain, wet compost, the chemical reactions produce the heat.
When harvested grain got too warm, we got in with shovels and stirred it. We kept this up periodically until it was dry enough and cool enough. Sometimes we brought in fans.
Dry sawdust was used to keep stored ice from thawing. Before ice machines, ice was harvested and covered with sawdust, I do not know how the sawdust did not get wet from the thawing ice and heat up then, maybe the ice was wrapped.
Thx. The sawdust piles were definitely wet, sitting out in the open on the edge of fields. Took years for them to finally go away.
Happily our compost heap seems to be home to a rat who spends the winter turning the compost for us.
The author appears to be a freelancer punting out stuff on various media sites but her brief for the Telegraph is ‘specialising in human rights’ abuses, violence against women, and the refugee crisis.’ Not much on forest fires there.
The report states “…they have such energy that they (the fires) can kill people hundreds of metres away through radiant heat alone”.
I suspect the writer has never experienced a forest fire at close hand. I have, this is garbage. Temporarily blinding, choking & deafening but lethal at hundreds of metres ? No way.
This is interesting me as well Mike. I really find this seperate claim about Australian wildfires a bit of a stretch N.B. this is a copy and paste….it really does say 1,500.
“The amount of energy released by the fires was estimated to be equivalent to around 1,500 Hiroshima atomic bombs. In some situations, the fires produced sufficient radiant heat to kill people 400 metres away. “
https://www.science.org.au/curious/bushfires
I really cannot make any equation that would realistically transmit enough energy through the atmosphere over such an enormous distance. What’s your take on it?
Quite so Ray. At, say approx, 50 yards from the fire you could feel your face & arms warming (I didn’t have time to measure the exact distance !) but no sign of skin blistering. Painted steel (campervan) totally undamaged, we were ready for a quick departure pronto ed’ anche in punto. Noisy, choking & concerning but fusion bomb level radiation ? No.
Possibly if downwind with a fierce wind.
The issue is radiant heat…that kinda travels a bit faster than the wind!
“Radiant heat transfer takes place without a medium. Radiant energy, transmitted as electromagnetic waves, travels at the speed of light until absorbed by a solid or reflected. The waves do not heat the space through which they pass.”
Good point but not in this case – the air rush (wind) was towards the fire base from whence the air ascended to distribute ash all over, both White dust + Black dust simultaneously; strange effect.
My answer re the wind was to PopesClimateTheory, not to RS.
Good points, both of you, Thanks.
Yes Michael, I have checked out a few more fire consultancy and also official state websites and concluded the distance quoted is absurd. Florida State quoted radiant heat separation of just 30 feet for building protection and 30 yards for personal safety as a minimum. That is more akin to your experience by the sound of it.
Quarter of a mile fatality would require energy release levels way above those that could be sustained by oxygen based combustion of wood products. All of which begs the questions – who made this up and for what purposes?
Thanks Ray, I’m totally non digital & no great researcher either. The FL State report ‘safe’ distances you quote are directly analagous to my experience; as I mentioned, even our steel bodied camper van’s paint finish was unmarked. The trees & vegetation were tinder dry, Pozzuoli (Napoli) area, mid summer, no rain for months. Certainly no Hiroshima style “death rays” !.
No mention of the fact most of the fires were due to Arson, just like everywhere esle.
https://www.leadstory.com/v/arson-suspected-in-chile-forest-fires-20242746
Chile has permitted the growth of hillside shantyowns in areas unsuitable for housing. Fires in the Summer, mudslides in the winter.
This latest conflagration is strongly suspected to have been started deliberately but at any rate CONAF, Chile’s national forestry agency states that human activity is the cause of 99% of Chile’s numerous forest fires.
https://www.conaf.cl/incendios-forestales/incendios-forestales-en-chile/
The “compassionate” government has announced that funds will be available for rebuilding, so burnt-out homes will be rebuilt in the same hazardous areas using the same cheap materials that caused them to burn down so easily.
While global warming may be a contributing factor, it would only be one of many. Chileans have a long history of damaging their land and mismanaging the result.
Chile permitted the growth of hillside shantyowns in areas unsuitable for housing. Fires in the Summer, mudslides in the winter.
This latest conflagration is strongly suspected to have been started deliberately but at any rate CONAF, Chile’s national forestry agency states that human activity is the cause of 99% of Chile’s numerous forest fires.
https://www.conaf.cl/incendios-forestales/incendios-forestales-en-chile/
The “compassionate” government has announced that funds will be available for rebuilding, so the burnt-out homes will be rebuilt in the same hazardous areas using the same cheap materials that caused them to burn down so easily.
Chileans have a long history of destroying their environment and mismanaging the result.