The horrific Chilean wildfire event should have had its own Topic thread back in February (2024) when it occurred. @beaver and I posted about it in other topics here and here, respectively. Several others (here on Giza) contributed links to good articles and commented.
" Osvaldo Ossandón, the chief prosecutor in the case, announced on Saturday the arrests of Francisco Mondaca, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter who stands accused as the material author of the fires, and Franco Pinto, a former member of Chile’s National Forest Corporation (CONAF) who allegedly planned the fires."
"In the testimony, Moncada claimed that Pinto, who he described as a “friend,” had allegedly told him on February 2 that the heat and wind weather conditions were “good” to start the fires.
“Therefore, we agreed that I would go in the morning hours of that day to the Las Tablas sector and Camino Viejo a Santiago to set fires by throwing incendiary devices that he had verbally taught me to make in another fire, where Franco [Pinto] told me that I should wrap matches around a cigarette and tie it with a thread,” Mondaca reportedly stated."
So, they seem to have a solid case against this pair of fellows and can blame them for the entire disaster. No need to peer beyond how it started; no, no, no… we have the culprits. Why inquire about the INTENSITY, RAPIDITY, and PERSISTENCE of the fire(s)? –it was obviously climate change that made it so bad. Just like Lahaina; just like Texas (Smokehouse fire); just like Canada.
Instead of two utility companies, we have two men. Oh, and a conference of firefighting women (Banff).