Massive Chile Wildfires Kill At Least 23 People

Map shows location of the hundreds of wildfires
burning recently in Chile. 

 It's gotten to be an all too familiar scene. Weeks of scorching, record hot summer temperatures scorch the landscape. Soon, wildfires break out and spread exponentially in hot, dry winds. The flames roar into towns and cities, causing panic, destruction and deaths. 

These awful moments do seem to be on the rise in the age of climate change. Australia in 2000. California in 2017 and 2018, and several other recent years. British Columbia, Canada and Washington State in 2021. Even Great Britain last summer. 

Now, it's Chile. 

The Southern Hemisphere summer in Chile has been torrid, and in recent days, record temperatures as high as 104 degrees have been reported. 

According to the Associated Press:

"At least 22 people have died in connection to the fires and 554 have been injured, including 16 in serious condition, accord to Interior Minister Carolina Toha. The death toll is likely to rise as Toha said there are unconfirmed reports of at least 10 people missing. Over the past week, fires have burned through an area equivalent to what is usually burned in an entire year, Toha said in a news conference."

More than 250 wildfires were burning in Chile as of Saturday, though firefighters had managed to put about 150 of the fires under control.   

With fires still raging out of control, Chile has seen its second worst fire season on record since at least 1963, in terms of acreage burned. 

News video of the situation in Chile for more detail: Either click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that: