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Wildland fires broke out amid hot and dry conditions in south-central Chile in mid-January 2026, prompting evacuations and causing extensive damage to infrastructure. As of January 20, the spate of deadly fires had burned more than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) in the country\u2019s Biob\u00edo and \u00d1uble regions, according to Chile\u2019s National Forestry Corporation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The MODIS<\/a>\u00a0(Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA\u2019s\u00a0Terra<\/a>\u00a0satellite captured this image of smoke billowing from multiple fires on January 18. Dozens of active fires in the area prompted the evacuation of 50,000 people and destroyed more than 300 homes, according to a January 19 report<\/a> from Chile\u2019s U.N. Resident Coordinator\u2019s Office<\/a>. Aerial and ground-based photographs<\/a> showed neighborhoods in Concepci\u00f3n charred in the aftermath.<\/p>\n Gusty winds, along with temperatures<\/a> that exceeded<\/a> 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in places, fanned the flames and hampered firefighting efforts, according to news reports<\/a>. Chile\u2019s president declared<\/a> a state of catastrophe in the Biob\u00edo and \u00d1uble regions, allowing more resources to go toward battling the blazes and assisting affected communities.<\/p>\n Other parts of South America also faced hot and dry conditions<\/a> during the 2025\u20132026 summer, likely priming vegetation to burn. About 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Concepci\u00f3n, firefighters in Argentina battled wildfires<\/a> in and around\u00a0Los Alerces National Park, home to rare stands of long-lived cypress trees.<\/p>\n NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS data from NASA\u00a0EOSDIS LANCE<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0GIBS\/Worldview<\/a>.\u00a0Story by\u00a0Lindsey Doermann.<\/em><\/p>\n\n