Chile's worst wildfires destroy town, death toll at 10

Flames from one of Chile's worst wildfires completely consumed the town of Santa Olga as the death toll from the blazes since November rose to 10, officials said Thursday. The flames engulfed the post office, a kindergarten, and about 1,000 homes in the town, located 220 miles (360 kilometers) south of the Chilean capital. The body of one person was found under the charred remains of the town, which another 6,000 residents fled unharmed. Officials have not identified the person who died.

Authorities found another body burned inside a house destroyed in the flames about 85 miles (140 kilometers) south of Santa Olga in the coastal city of Concepcion, said Andrea Munoz, the governor of Concepcion province. Officials later reported that a firefighter also died after a water truck rolled over.

Dozens of teary-eyed firefighters took a moment from battling the blazes to pay homage to one of their colleagues who died in the flames late Wednesday while he evacuated a family to safety. Two police officers also died Wednesday.

The series of fast-spreading blazes have destroyed about 385,000 acres (160,000 hectares) of forest. The fires have been raging in central and southern Chile, fanned by strong winds, hot temperatures and a prolonged drought. Emergency services have battled the flames non-stop for days with thousands of firefighters on the ground and helicopters and small airplanes in the air.

The central regions of O'Higgins and Chile's top wine-making region of Maule are among those hit worst. But fires are also raging in the south-central Bio Bio and Araucania regions, known for its timber industry and where most of Chile's Mapuche Indigenous people live.