{"id":322724,"date":"2026-01-21T15:04:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322724"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:04:48","slug":"uruguay-to-send-40-firefighters-to-chile-as-biobio-and-nuble-wildfires-leave-at-least-20-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322724","title":{"rendered":"Uruguay to send 40 firefighters to Chile as Biob\u00edo and \u00d1uble wildfires leave at least 20 dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.mercopress.com\/data\/cache\/noticias\/108749\/0x0\/bomberos.jpg\"><img src=\"https:\/\/en.mercopress.com\/data\/cache\/noticias\/108749\/760x480\/bomberos.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighters fighting a fire in Piri\u00e1polis, Uruguay. Photo: Sebasti\u00e1n Astorga\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>MONTEVIDEO, Jan 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) &#8212; Uruguay will deploy a contingent of around 40 firefighters to Chile to help battle the wildfires ravaging the country\u2019s south-central regions\u2014particularly Biob\u00edo and \u00d1uble\u2014where Chilean authorities have reported at least 20 deaths and thousands of people affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uruguayan President Yamand\u00fa Orsi confirmed the deployment after\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.mercopress.com\/2026\/01\/21\/chile-wildfires-death-toll-rises-to-20-as-authorities-report-widespread-destruction-and-arrest-a-suspect\">Chile submitted a formal request for humanitarian assistance<\/a>. The team is scheduled to depart on Thursday, Jan 22, aboard a Uruguayan Air Force Hercules C-130 aircraft and will work for seven days, with the mission expected to run through Jan 31. Orsi said the unit will provide \u201chuman support\u201d for direct firefighting in hard-to-reach areas where heavy machinery cannot operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Chile, an official update issued on Tuesday put the death toll at 20 and reported 7,237 affected people and 562 shelter residents, as multiple active fronts continued to test emergency services. The same report counted 590 homes destroyed\u2014most of them in Biob\u00edo\u2014and noted damage to public infrastructure, including schools and health facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chile\u2019s disaster agency Senapred said its SAE emergency alert system has been used extensively to order evacuations as fire lines shift quickly. Local coverage in recent days also cited evacuation calls for specific sectors in Biob\u00edo in coordination with Senapred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe and imposed nighttime restrictions in the hardest-hit areas. Interior Minister \u00c1lvaro Elizalde warned that conditions could deteriorate again as weather changes and urged caution around sites under investigation, as prosecutors and police work to determine how the fires started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities also reported arrests linked to suspected deliberate actions and condemned attacks against firefighters in La Araucan\u00eda, where volunteers faced threats and gunfire while battling a blaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chile has faced increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years. In February 2024, fires in the Valpara\u00edso region killed more than 100 people, one of the country\u2019s deadliest recent disasters, according to reporting and official statements at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uruguay\u2019s deployment adds to regional disaster-assistance mechanisms as Chile continues an expanded response combining ground crews, aerial resources and international coordination for specialized reinforcements. &#8212; NNN-MERCOPRESS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MONTEVIDEO, Jan 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) &#8212; Uruguay will deploy a contingent of around 40 firefighters to Chile to help battle the wildfires ravaging the country\u2019s south-central regions\u2014particularly Biob\u00edo and \u00d1uble\u2014where Chilean authorities have reported at least 20 deaths and thousands of people affected. Uruguayan President Yamand\u00fa Orsi confirmed the deployment after\u00a0Chile submitted a formal request for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":322725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[208],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322724"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322727,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322724\/revisions\/322727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/322725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}