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The Twisted WhatsApp Messages of Conaf Brigade Members Accused of Causing Fires in Viña del Mar

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Prosecutors formally charged four members of the organization. "Get something good out of it, man," one of them scolded a colleague for not starting a large fire.

- I'm bored. The idea is to go play soccer.

- Just go for it, I've been here for three days. I really want to leave.

- How's the wind?

- Good for fishing, on the old road.

- Alright, there's the plan. Whenever you're ready.

Read like this, raw and without context, this dialogue could easily be mistaken for a harmless attempt by a group of friends arranging a soccer match or maybe flying kites, given how often they mention the wind. But it’s none of that.

The words here are written in a twisted code. As twisted as the acts they refer to.

As explained by Valparaíso’s regional fire prosecutor, Osvaldo Ossandón, before the Valparaíso Guarantee Court, this dialogue comes from a conversation among members of a WhatsApp group called "Allowed to Be Bored," which included Conaf brigade members. For this group—which Ossandón called "a criminal organization" conspiring to start wildfires—"being bored" means "spending too much time at the station without fighting fires," and "playing soccer" is "the code for going to start fires."

The wind, therefore, refers to the possibility of strong enough winds to intensify the fire, with the "old road" being an area where a fire could be started.

So far, prosecutors have identified and arrested seven members of this group. Between May and September, the first three were detained, accused of causing the February 2 fire in Viña del Mar and surrounding areas, which killed 136 people. On Thursday afternoon, four more were arrested, accused of starting 20 other wildfires in Lago Peñuelas National Park.

As evidence, prosecutors presented a series of conversations between the group members, along with the correlation between their messages and the fires reported by Conaf.

All the dialogues, as recounted by the prosecutor, follow a similar tone. They seem to talk about everyday things, mere anecdotes, rather than something as terrible as destruction.

- Do something good, we need to extend the season—one brigade member scolds a colleague to provoke a fire.

- You do it, man. I already taught you how it's done (the fires).

In another conversation:

- When’s a good red alert coming?

- Damn, buddy, not yet. The grass needs like 15 more days to spread (meaning the grass is still too short).

Another dialogue:

- Hey, buddy, are you on duty?

- What’s up, man. Yeah, on duty. - Get something good out of it, come on.

- The wind is good, but there’s nothing to do (because the speaker is with someone). Go to Route 68 and throw a match. Toss a match, and tomorrow you come in early.

- Yeah, and the wind is at its peak.

In a conversation on December 6, 2022, one brigade member contacted a colleague who, at the time, wasn’t working for Conaf but at the Placilla Bus Terminal.

- Hey, how are you? This is getting worse... Nothing in three weeks.

- I’ve got it in sight. A little gift, right next to where I work. Not much wind, but it’ll still smoke. The fuel is bad, it’s half and half (referring to grass height).

That same day, a wildfire broke out right next to the Placilla Bus Terminal and lasted six days.

Prosecutors explained that the organization was led by a Conaf squad leader, who assigned shifts "and gave his accomplices permission to leave the station to start fires." Next was a "coordinator," who proposed locations with optimal conditions for starting fires, while the rest of the brigade members were the executors.

[22:23, 11/29/2024] Javier: - I start tomorrow, so I want overtime—a brigade member demanded in another dialogue.

- I start on Wednesday—added another.

- Don’t worry, if this thing (a newly started fire) takes off, we’ll have work for at least 20 days. There’s plenty of wind.

Source:LUN