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Forest Fires Will Have Dedicated Prosecutors for Their Investigation

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Negligent forest fire crimes, meaning when there is no intention to cause a fire, also carry prison sentences starting at 541 days.

With the imminent arrival of the 2024-2025 forest fire season, authorities in the O'Higgins Region are beginning to prepare for what is once again expected to be a challenging period. In this regard, the coordinating prosecutor for Forest Fires, Pablo Muñoz, announced that efforts are underway to ensure inter-institutional coordination to effectively combat forest fires and, from the Prosecutor's Office perspective, focus on investigations.

He added that for this season, fire investigations will be handled by dedicated prosecutors, who have already been appointed by Regional Prosecutor Aquiles Cubillos. Additionally, active coordination is maintained with Carabineros (Chilean police), the Investigative Police (PDI), and CONAF (National Forestry Corporation), who have communicated the resources allocated for investigating these types of emergencies. Therefore, he believes they are well-prepared for this fire season.

The prosecutor argued that negligent forest fire crimes, meaning when there is no intention to cause a fire, also carry prison sentences starting at 541 days. In contrast, when individuals intentionally start a fire, they face severe penalties for arson, starting at 5 years and one day.

FIREFIGHTERS ALSO PREPARE

The O'Higgins Fire Department, with its 33 Fire Corps and 98 Companies distributed across the entire regional territory, reported that it has a set of firefighting equipment ready to face the upcoming forest season.

These resources are distributed as follows: 30 Forest Fire Trucks with a combined capacity of 105,500 liters of water. 52 Semi-Urban Trucks for firefighting and operational support with a combined capacity of 208,500 liters of water. 39 Water Tankers with a combined capacity of 427,000 liters of water. 35 Personnel Transport Vehicles capable of mobilizing 427 firefighters in total. 14 Mobile Command Vehicles. 36 Command Vehicles. 10 Institutional Ambulance Vehicles, and two Fuel Trucks with 5,000 liters each.

Additionally, there are 73 Foldable Water Storage Pools with a total capacity of 798,000 liters of water, and 39 Self-Supporting Pools with a total capacity of 1,500,000 liters of water storage.

Source:El Rancagüino