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Biobío Municipalities Reiterate to Congress the Need to Pass the Fire Law

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The bill aimed at regulating the prevention of forest and rural wildfires has been in the Senate for over a year—and nearly two years total in the National Congress.

Currently, the country lacks regulations that establish structural and targeted measures for these events, such as those of the summer of 2023 and the tragedy in Viña del Mar in 2024.

In March 2025, after passing through the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate's Agriculture Committee, the initiative reached the Finance Committee of the Upper House, chaired by Senator Ximena Rincón, where it remains to this day.

In this context, the Association of Municipalities of the Biobío Region (Amrbb) has reiterated the urgency of passing it ahead of the 2025-2026 fire season, emphasizing primarily the need for regulations to improve preparedness for disasters.

"The urgency of having a fire law responds to the need to better strengthen key points, such as: prevention, preparedness, and response to forest fires, which each year affect our territories with greater intensity," stated Ricardo Fuentes, president of the Amrbb and mayor of Hualqui.

According to the mayor, for municipalities, having this law would allow "clear rules for disaster risk management at the local level. I refer to permanent funding and better inter-institutional coordination, thereby providing certainty to plan preventive actions throughout the year, and not just react in emergency contexts, thus protecting our neighbors, the environment, and critical infrastructure."

Under the same context, Fuentes indicated that, in terms of prevention, coordination among municipalities has been fundamental over the years and has progressively strengthened, especially through associative work. "We have advanced in information exchange, articulating preventive plans, joint training, and operational coordination during emergencies, involving Firefighters, Conaf, and Government institutions, both at the national and regional levels," he said.

"Maintaining coordinated work allows us to optimize resources, act more timely, and provide concrete responses to communities in general," concluded the president of the Association of Municipalities of the Biobío Region.

The Law

It is worth recalling that the project presented by the Ministry of Agriculture together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, in October 2023, seeks, regarding fires, to strengthen the prevention strategy, emphasizing coordination among municipalities, communities, landowners, and forestry companies. In addition, it establishes stricter penalties for illegal or negligent burning.

According to the Executive branch, the idea recognizes prevention as a priority and that emergency response can no longer be merely reactive. In this line, concrete measures are proposed such as firebreaks, participation of organized communities, new management plans, coordination with the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) and the private sector. Furthermore, it adds the collaboration of small landowners.

Biobío Risks

It should be recalled that in the analysis conducted within the framework of the Risk Map, released in April of this year, it is highlighted that the Biobío Region has the largest area with a very high threat category, equivalent to 6.5% of its territory (156,270 ha), concentrated mainly in Greater Concepción, Arauco, Lebu, and Curanilahue; it is followed by the Valparaíso Region with 4.7% of its territory (75,556 ha) in this category, mostly focused in Greater Valparaíso, and the communes of La Ligua, Casablanca, and San Antonio.

Meanwhile, in third place is the Metropolitan Region, whose area under very high threat condition corresponds to 4.5% (69,323 ha), which is mostly represented in the territories surrounding the city of Santiago, and the communes of Melipilla, Curacaví, and Alhué.

Source:Diario Concepción