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Special Fire Prosecutor Dismisses Idea That Real Estate Companies Are Behind Valparaíso Fires

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"The major fires we had to investigate occurred in areas where construction will never be possible," explained Osvaldo Ossandón, who elaborated on the arrest of the seven suspects.

Special fire prosecutor Osvaldo Ossandón dismissed the theory that real estate companies are involved in the recent large fires that affected the Valparaíso Region in February.

In an interview with Radio Universo, Ossandón stated, "If any evidence were to emerge, we would certainly examine it, but never in the last five years, among the multitude of fires we've seen, have we observed construction or changes to the land use of any burned areas."

The prosecutor added, "The major fires we investigated occurred in places where construction will never be allowed. For example, the Lago Peñuelas reserve, even if completely burned, will remain the Lago Peñuelas reserve—no one will be able to build there." He further detailed, "I have never seen a situation where a real estate company would want to build on such land because it's not possible—it's impossible."

Voices from the Frente Amplio, particularly in the Valparaíso Region, have suggested that the fires may be linked to real estate companies seeking to build on the affected land. Notably, Deputy Diego Ibáñez urged support in February for the government-backed fire prevention bill, which includes a '30-year ban on changing the land use of fire-damaged areas.'"

The prosecutor addressed this issue in light of the seven arrests made in connection with the wildfires that occurred in early February in Viña del Mar and Quilpué, in the Valparaíso Region.

Among the suspects are CONAF officials, a firefighter, and a former CONAF employee, among others. Regarding the detainees, the prosecutor stated, "I would call them more of an arson cell (...) because it's a group with some level of organization and direction, though not a hierarchical structure," commenting on the recent arrests related to the wildfires.

He recounted, "With the February 2 fire, we found the evidence we needed—essentially, we were able to put a name, face, and surname to our suspects, and from there, the first three were caught." These individuals were coordinated by one of the detainees.

Source:Emol.com