Chile forest fire: 4,500 people evacuated from Valparaiso and Vina del Mar

Chile has declared a state of emergency as a raging forest fire forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

The fire is threatening the port cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

The Chilean interior ministry said about 4,500 people had already been evacuated and another 10,000 might need to be moved.

Valparaiso is still recovering from a forest fire in April 2014 that killed 15 people, injured more than 500 and destroyed nearly 3,000 homes.

The fire began at an illegal garbage dump on March 13, officials said, and spread quickly fanned by strong winds.

By late Friday, Chile’s Emergency Office estimated that about 740 acres had been affected.

Emergency crews battled through the night to keep the flames from reaching residential districts in Valparaiso.

Three firefighters have been injured so far and a 67-year-old woman died of cardio-respiratory causes, the interior ministry said.

Valparaiso’s poorest areas, often made up of little more than wooden huts, were worst hit by last year’s devastating fire.

Entire neighborhoods were razed and many of those who died were found in the burned-down homes they had refused to leave.

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