Fire Law and Lack of Prevention

By Simón Berti, National President of the College of Forestry Engineers A.G.

The recent approval of the law on forest fires, passed in the Senate with no votes against or abstentions, leaves a legitimate concern. Various technical and union actors repeatedly warned that the bill does not incorporate effective measures to prevent the occurrence of fires, despite a significant proportion of them having human causes, whether due to negligence or intent.

Concrete technical proposals were presented but were not adopted. There is a risk that public opinion may believe this law will substantially reduce fires, when its main focus remains on responding to fires already declared.

It is also concerning that obligations and penalties fall heavily on small and medium-sized landowners—many of them victims of the fires themselves—while equivalent demands are not observed for municipalities in matters of risk management and urban-rural interface planning.

Now the representatives have the floor. The legal framework can and should be improved, more strongly incorporating prevention and the technical knowledge of those who work directly in the field.

Letter to the Editor inEl Mercurio