Communes affected by the mega-fire request faster investigation of the case

Six months was the deadline set by the Concepción Guarantee Court for the investigation of the mega-fire that occurred in the Biobío Region during January of this year and caused the death of 20 people. The period is nearing its end, specifically at the end of July.

In this context, it is worth recalling that there is a single accused, identified as Claudio Luna, to whom the Public Prosecutor's Office communicated charges for the consummated crime of forest fire, plus 20 counts of negligent homicide, 14 counts of negligent serious and less serious injuries, and damages, being subject to the precautionary measures of partial nighttime house arrest and national travel ban.

Regarding the deadline for the investigation, the municipalities of the affected sectors agreed that for them it is key to have the details of the proceedings, pointing, among various arguments, to providing certainty to the affected families and consolidating better preventive measures to avoid this type of catastrophe.

Along those lines, from the Municipality of Penco, one of the communes most damaged by the fires, they stated that "we hope that the investigation into those responsible for the fatal forest fires of last January, which claimed the lives of 20 people and left nearly 3,500 homes affected in Penco and Lirquén, progresses as quickly as possible and allows the facts to be clarified."

Likewise, they clarified that, as a municipality, they have not received official reports regarding the ongoing proceedings, "understanding that this is an investigation carried out under strict confidentiality."

The communal administration called on the Public Prosecutor's Office to, as far as the process allows, "provide information on the progress of the investigation, in order to provide greater peace of mind and certainty to the affected families and the entire community."

For his part, the mayor of Concepción, Héctor Muñoz, stated that "the idea is for the investigation to progress as quickly as possible (...) the municipality's position is to investigate. We are fully willing to collaborate as well if there are matters the municipality can discuss with some neighbors, how the fire situation was seen."

The communal chief indicated that the expert reports of the criminal process are important to "prevent future fires (...) Therefore, an investigation, a preventive information effort, is also important. So regarding this investigation, all we ask is that it progress as quickly as possible."

Mayor Muñoz, at the same time, emphasized that he understands that investigative processes take time, as that "serves to prevent future fires, and that, if there are those responsible, the corresponding sanctions are imposed, because that also helps the rest of the neighbors to be responsible to avoid any tragedy."

Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Municipalities of the Biobío Region and mayor of Hualqui, Ricardo Fuentes, also referred to the urgency of having results from the January fires and said that "we view with concern that, a few months before the start of a new forest fire season, there are still pending investigations regarding fires that deeply affected thousands of families."

However, Fuentes added that it is also concerning that "we still do not have a Fire Law that establishes solid guidelines in terms of prevention, oversight, and prosecution of responsibilities."

The president of the Amrbb stated that municipalities are the first line of response to these emergencies and are closely familiar with the human, social, and economic impact generated by forest fires.

In that sense, he added that "we call for both the processing of the Fire Law and the investigations to advance as quickly as possible. Prevention requires timely decisions and effective coordination between municipalities and state institutions."

The judicial investigation

In January 2026, at the formalization hearing of Claudio Luna, Judge Carlos Aguayo rejected the Prosecutor's Office's request to order pretrial detention, considering that responsibility cannot be attributed to him for the lack of maintenance of the cabin and the stove used as a kitchen, assigned to him by his employer, who had hired him as a caretaker only a couple of days before the fire, without receiving any instructions or recommendations. So far, the prosecutor maintains that the fire started in that stove.

Likewise, the judge ruled out that the evidence provided by the Public Prosecutor's Office indicates that Luna, who has no prior criminal record and has cooperated with the investigation, attempted to flee.

The hypothesis of the fire's origin

According to the prosecuting body, around 3:10 PM on January 17, 2026, Luna Muñoz used a stove adapted as an artisanal kitchen in the cabin he occupied as a caretaker of the Don Pablo estate, located in the El Pino sector of Concepción, at kilometer 17 of Route O-680.

This kitchen did not have a "spark arrester" device or "cap" on the external flue, so when used by the accused, it caused the abundant surrounding vegetation to catch fire. The fire quickly spread to a forest covering the slope of a nearby hill, whose gradient and prevailing wind favored the generation of embers that carried the flames in a northeast direction, until reaching the Trinitarias estate of Forestal Arauco, about 2.25 kilometers from the initial location, and then advanced uncontrollably northward, until reaching the communes of Penco and Tomé.

This is how a mega-fire was allegedly generated that caused 20 deaths and left 14 injured with serious and less serious injuries, and also affected a total of 9,000 homes regionally, 22,772 hectares of forest plantations, native forest, scrubland, grasslands, buildings, vehicles, and animals.

Source:Diario Concepción