A series of forest fires occurred in January 2012 mainly in the communes of

Carahue Carahue () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River (Chile), Imperial River. The city was founded as La Imperial, Chil ...

and

Lumaco Lumaco is a town and commune in Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Its name in Mapudungun means "water of '' luma''". Lumaco is located to northeast of Temuco and from Angol. It shares a boundary to the north with the communes ...

. The first fire in

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities ...

appeared in the estate Casa Piedra in Carahue and preceded other summer wildfires in Chile in the

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( ) is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: Arauco, Biobío and C ...

and

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park () is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the park's centerpiece. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpo ...

. By 6 January 2012, seven firefighters had died in the Araucanía fires.A seis se eleva la cifra de brigadistas muertos en incendio forestal en La Araucanía
Ulloa Morales, Eric.

EMOL (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (''Sociedad Anónima Periodística'' 'joint stock news company'), which operates a network of ...

. 5 de enero de 2011. Retrieved: 6 January 2012. The highest political authority of Araucanía, the intendant of the region, denounced the fires as intentional on January 6, 2012.

References

History of Araucanía Region Wildfires in Chile 2012 wildfires 2012 in Chile 2012 disasters in South America {{Chile-hist-stub