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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.Valparaiso forest fire

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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More than 150 homes have been destroyed by a huge forest fire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso.

Thousands of people are being evacuated from Valparaiso to escape the flames, which have been fanned by strong winds coming in from the Pacific.

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet put the army in charge of the evacuation after declaring the city, 70 miles west of capital Santiago, a catastrophe zone.

There are no reported deaths but many are suffering from smoke inhalation.

More than 150 homes have been destroyed by a huge forest fire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso

More than 150 homes have been destroyed by a huge forest fire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso

Large parts of Valparaiso are without electricity.

Valparaiso’s mayor, Jorge Castro, told Chile’s National Television that refuges have been set up for the thousands of residents that have been forced to flee the fire.

“Valparaiso is without electricity at the moment and this means the flame column is creating a Dante-esque panorama and is advancing in an apparently uncontrollable manner,” Jorge Castro said.

The battle to contain the blaze has been hampered by strong Pacific coast winds that have pushed the fire deeper into Valparaiso’s neighborhoods.

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