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Municipality of Los Ángeles Establishes First Committees to Empower Residents and Communities in Fire Prevention

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The formation of the first prevention committee by the Municipality of Los Ángeles in the Las Viñas sector of Chacayal Sur, located 24 km from the city center, was hailed as a milestone. Around 35 residents kicked off this preventive effort, which involves learning about environmental risk management, mitigation, and education on this topic.

The Los Ángeles municipality chose to replicate the management model of the Community Prevention Network, which has existed in Chile for six years, operating in 89 communes, 15 provinces, 6 regions, 447 committees, and involving over 5,000 residents.

"What has just been done is a hugely important milestone for prevention, for safeguarding our homes, lives, and, of course, our land. In fact, the only way to prevent accidents related to these fires is by working in an organized manner. And that’s what has been demonstrated here with exceptional participation from the entire Las Viñas area, along with the municipality and the professionals in charge of this task. So, we are very pleased," said Víctor Quintana, the municipal delegate of Chacayal.

The goal of the Los Ángeles Municipality is to establish 13 committees in different sectors and expand the fire prevention work carried out by the Community Prevention Network, which already manages 10 other committees in the commune. The first committee was formed in the Las Viñas area of Chacayal Sur, and the second was created in Paraguay, located about 44 km from the commune center at km 13 toward Saltos del Laja.

Mayor Esteban Krause stated that they aim to develop more permanent work in fire prevention, considering that these fires are caused by human activity. "The Community Prevention Network has been doing tremendous work for some time now. It’s a proven model, and we are adopting their experience to replicate what they’re already implementing—taking on their strategy and methodology. We know this is a systematic, medium- to long-term effort and a responsibility for everyone."

Edgardo Cifuentes, president of the Las Viñas Chacayal Sur Neighborhood Council, affirmed, "This is a very good initiative we’ve been waiting for because the fires from last season undoubtedly left us with many concerns. This initiative by the Los Ángeles Municipality and the Community Prevention Network is excellent because it will allow us all to speak the same language."

Felipe Cid, Prevention Manager of the Network, stated, "We made our work model available to the Los Ángeles municipality, and today it materializes with the formation of the first Municipal Prevention Committee in the commune. This makes us very happy, and we hope to keep adding more people, residents, and communities to wildfire prevention efforts to avoid another catastrophe like the one we experienced last summer."

The Community Prevention Network’s methodology has enabled 75% of its committees to maintain or reduce fire occurrences, thanks to residents and communities identifying risks and educating their peers about prevention.

Diego Cabezas, representative of the Las Viñas Sector Committee, expressed deep gratitude for this collaborative effort. "It’s extremely important that we’re included, that we have this program. We also thank the municipality for managing this work." Similarly, Marco Huaiquimilo, a resident of the Paraguay sector, called for community-wide prevention efforts, starting with individuals cleaning their surroundings.