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Organized Neighbors for Fire Prevention

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The Community Prevention Network has become a key factor in preventing and combating wildfires in urban and rural areas in recent seasons. It is a collaborative alliance of neighbors organized into 355 committees spanning from the O’Higgins region to Los Ríos, working directly with their municipalities, firefighters, CONAF, forestry companies, ONEMI, and Carabineros, forming a vast prevention network to reduce the occurrence and damage of wildfires.
The committees that make up this network are groups of neighbors who volunteer and organize territorially through coordinators. One of them is Karla Leal, who oversees 13 committees from the Temuco district to La Unión. "The prevention network is well-organized and structured. We have milestones throughout the year, so we work with neighbors not only in summer but beforehand, so when the fire season arrives, we’re already prepared."

The Community Prevention Network emerged after the 2017 fires, when the town of Santa Olga in the Maule region was completely burned down. That was when forestry companies and state institutions organized and created this network, where neighbors altruistically serve as community prevention managers. Karla helps establish contacts within the network, trains neighbors, and supports them in generating more prevention activities. "We have many types of actions in the Community Prevention Network to prepare our surroundings in advance for emergencies. One preventive action we always carry out, working closely with CONAF, municipalities, and forestry companies, is maintaining vegetation-free strips around our committee areas, as everyone has dense wooded vegetation. I know it’s beautiful, and we all love living in rural areas, but they’re also at higher risk of fires. Preventive actions aim to raise awareness and drive change among our neighbors. We meet with them, organize recreational afternoons, go door-to-door, distribute informational pamphlets, and communicate emergency protocols. Unfortunately, fires sometimes happen due to negligence, human carelessness, or even ignorance. Sometimes, people don’t realize burning isn’t allowed, and a neighbor might think they can burn because it’s about to rain, for example."

This work has proven effective during emergencies, such as the late February fire known as "Las Mariposas" north of Temuco in the La Araucanía region. "I happen to have a very well-prepared committee there, and the response was truly incredible because everyone already knew what to do, where to go, how not to obstruct traffic, and what our meeting point would be in case of a fire. Sadly, we had a fire, but that’s when we realized we were truly organized for a very complex emergency."

Each committee has between five and eight representatives who lead their neighbors. "I have one committee where a single representative mobilizes the entire area, so talking numbers might not be as relevant because there are enough to move a committee forward through meetings with neighborhood associations, APR (Rural Drinking Water Committees), senior or sports organizations. The idea is to spread the information."

Key actions of the Community Prevention Network include cleaning the surroundings, raising awareness about pruning and thinning, keeping spaces clear, and removing poorly placed or degraded trees. "Our standout preventive actions are maintaining vegetation-free strips, fuel breaks, preventive forestry work done by neighbors, and keeping areas around homes clear of vegetation. I always tell my neighbors that no one is safe from wildfires—we live in a rural area and must be prepared for this emergency because we know where a fire starts, but not where it ends."
Given the intentionality behind some fires, could these committees also start participating in surveillance?
At least here in the Los Ríos region, we’ve discussed it. Last year in the Los Lagos district, we had six fires and couldn’t figure out what caused them, but the neighbors knew who it was. Thanks to their information, we discovered it was a person with mental health issues who did it because he found it entertaining to see the brigades working in the area—unfortunately.

This year, we also worked hard in the Las Mariposas committee in Temuco on the issue of intentionality. The only thing we can do is report it to the PDI (Investigative Police). We also work closely with CONAF’s 130 hotline and Arauco’s central office, which are the recommendations we give neighbors—to report intentional fires this way.
How do you perceive the neighbors' attitude? Is there reluctance to work with these institutions, or is there eagerness to participate?
Generally, neighbors are more resistant to working with forestry companies, but those I work with understand that many of them rely on these companies for jobs and daily bread. They say, 'How can we want all the forestry companies to leave if we’d be left without food for our children? So, what do we have to do here? Prevent and work together.'

The preventive work of the Community Prevention Network is voluntary, and the leadership of the 355 committee representatives is vital because they can mobilize their entire sector around fire prevention. "It fills me with pride to see them take initiative—we go into the field to identify major risks, hold meetings, walk a lot, and when we go door-to-door, they accompany me. There’s interest because fires are now moving south, so we must be prepared. They’re very concerned and aware, so the only thing they can do now is organize, support, and contribute to prevention."

Patricia Escobar, President of the Neighborhood Council and the Las Mariposas Prevention Committee, Temuco, La Araucanía region

This leader organized her neighbors as the new residential area where she lives—next to the Las Mariposas hill north of La Araucanía’s capital, with about 700 homes and plots—was being settled. First came the neighborhood council, then the Prevention Committee, which operates under the Network. "We do prevention work with neighbors, reinforcing CONAF and ONEMI’s yellow alerts through WhatsApp, which works best in summer. But this year, all our work was tested in a three-day fire where the Prevention Network proved effective," she explains. "Here, the remarkable and honorable work was done by the neighbors. Authorities, even firefighters, took a backseat—it was our organization that did the work."
Between February 22 and 24, multiple fires in La Araucanía demanded all available resources. In this context, a major fire broke out on Las Mariposas hill, in the committee’s area, where fire trucks couldn’t go—only ground crews. Neighbors knew a wind shift could cause a catastrophe and supported the crews by bringing water from pools in a human chain with jugs and bottles. "There were few crews because of the many fires. We called the municipality for support, and they replenished the pool water, among other tasks. During the fire, we ran a major campaign and received many donations. Other neighbors cleared brush and built firebreaks to fight the flames. At night, when firefighters and crews had left, we kept watch to ensure no new outbreaks occurred."

Patricia recounts that the next day, fires appeared along the highway at the base of the hill, where the situation was worse than the day before. While waiting for firefighters, neighbors again carried water jugs and built firebreaks. "It was exhausting but very fruitful. The fire had calmed, and firefighters left when a massive flare-up crossed the highway. Neighbors cut off traffic since Carabineros hadn’t arrived. It was five intense hours of firefighting, with outstanding participation from ARAUCO Forestry. I’d like this recognized because it wasn’t CONAF crews or firefighters who saved us—it was ARAUCO Forestry. We asked for help, and all the regional managers came, working side by side on the hill. Other institutions were overwhelmed. We requested aerial support, and they sent eight planes that extinguished the Las Mariposas hill fire. By the third day, only smoldering stumps remained."
Patricia is proud of the progress made through the Committee in fire preparedness and response. "Fires will always be a threat—we’re constantly victims of arson. There should be more committees like this in La Araucanía, where there are only two."

Liliana Valenzuela Bernal, Secretary of the Las Mercedes Agricultural and Residential Community Organization and a representative of the Chaimávida-Las Mercedes Community Prevention Network, Concepción, Biobío region

After losing everything in the 2010 Talcahuano earthquake, Liliana and her family moved to Chaimávida in Concepción, where they faced another loss: the 2017 fire burned seven homes, including hers, in a forested area. "After that trauma, we attended a meeting with Arauco Forestry and CONAF to discuss prevention. That’s when we started working as a Committee. There’s a lot of apprehension about forestry companies, but they taught us we’re neighbors and must cooperate. We learned a lot about prevention, received guidelines, and stay closely connected with neighbors. We have a map of what to do, who alerts Firefighters and Carabineros—who now know where we are—so the Network has helped us build stronger alliances. We have a document with actions to take, started working, held mass operations, and liked it."
Liliana explains this summer was tough due to numerous nearby fires, mostly intentional. "One fire came very close, but feedback from neighbors and Firefighters confirmed that because one area was well-cleared, they contained it."
Since 2017, they’ve conducted activities, shared cleaning guidelines, distributed pamphlets, and held workshops on protecting homes and surroundings. "My house used to be surrounded by forest. Now, no trees are nearby unless native—there’s no need to be surrounded by trees. The Network has been crucial for knowledge-sharing. We’ve done workshops and training with Firefighters, actively share information on social media, and support each other. This is nonprofit, but by helping neighbors, we create a chain—if everyone contributes a little, we can contain fires better. The area is much cleaner now thanks to awareness. What we lack are harsher penalties for arsonists and CONAF sending us burn schedules and regulations."
Notably, a year ago, Chaimávida formed a neighbor emergency brigade—including her husband—trained as responders, with equipment provided by Arauco Forestry. "Having this Prevention Committee and now this brigade gives us peace of mind."

Lorena Rivas Vargas, President of the Pellinada Alta Neighborhood Council, Los Lagos, Los Ríos region

Lorena lives in a rural area of about 40 homes surrounded by trees in Los Lagos district, where neighbors organized the Pellinada Alta Committee of the Community Prevention Network. "All stakeholders were committed, and when we went into the field, neighbors welcomed us. We surveyed the area, assessed risks, and documented actions like firebreaks, meetings with the power company and Firefighters. We’ve pruned trees and educated children. I’m happy with the Committee’s work, and the support of our prevention specialist Karla Leal is key to making every action happen."

"We’re about 100 long-time neighbors who lacked awareness about keeping our surroundings clean. People learned to care—now we know how to prevent fires. We feel safer because the forestry company guides us, maintains firebreaks, and is committed to us, as is the municipality. We’ve identified a safe zone to escape to in case of fire."