On the afternoon of Friday 2 February, Danitza Hurtado was resting at home after work, unconcerned about the seasonal summer wildfires that had started in a nearby farm close to a nature reserve. By 6pm, she was frantically gathering belongings with her father and brother as fireballs rained down and a wall of black smoke crept up the hill towards their home in the Achupallas neighbourhood on the fringes of Viña del Mar, a coastal city of about 300,000 people.
“The wind was hitting us, and trees were falling on top of the house,” says the 22-year-old. “It was terrible. In less than 10 minutes, we had to get as much as possible out of the house and flee.”
They escaped, heading uphill as the blaze advanced with terrifying speed and intensity, igniting everything in its path. At the crest of the hill, they cowered with their neighbours in the only spot the flames could not reach as the raging inferno surrounded them, showering them with soot.
