Man-made fires? Chile’s pulp industry battles disaster as packaging association suggests foul play

15 Feb 2023 --- Chile continues to face devastating forest fires, with those still active causing further damage to the natural environment and pulp industry. It remains unclear what caused “the worst wildfires in Chile’s modern history,” with speculations toward intentional man-made fires and climate change-driven factors.

While more than 600 fires have broken out over the past days, the Chilean government estimates that the outbreaks could continue until mid-March. PackagingInsights speaks to Viva Chile Packaging about the fire’s ravaging effects on the country’s pulp industry and what could be behind it. 

Viva Chile Packaging is a national initiative that seeks to promote innovation, technological development and creativity in the country’s containers and packaging industry. 

“To date, 415 hectares have been burned, of which more than 40,000 hectares correspond to monoculture forests (radiata pine and eucalyptus), directly affecting the pulp industry,” a spokesperson at Viva Chile Packaging tells us.

“CMPC – one of the largest Chilean pulp and paper companies – has estimated that more than 10,000 hectares have been burned and it is estimated that over 30,000 hectares would have been affected by the company Celulosa Arauco, which has not given public interviews.”

CMPC estimates that more than 10,000 hectares have been burned.Chile’s non-profit national forests corporation (CONAF) said last week the area affected by the fires had spread to over 300,000 hectares (741,315 acres), an area nearly twice the size of Greater London, UK.

Climate change or dishonest conduct? 
Chilean pulp and wood panel manufacturer Arauco, the forestry arm of Empresas Copec, indicates that 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) of its plantations could be affected by the fires. However, the total damage could be even higher, reports Reuters. 

While the EU holds climate change responsible for the ongoing fires, the Viva Chile Packaging spokesperson points to other man-made factors. 

“Most of the fires are intentionally caused by humans. The current situation is quite critical since there are many outbreaks in different places and the weather conditions with high temperatures and a lot of wind are unfavorable for this wave of fires to stop soon,” they warn.

“It is a situation that is greater than what has been seen in other years and for that reason, the idea that they are intentional grows every day. To date, there are already more than 25 people arrested and their participation in these fires will be investigated.”

“Not only native forests and monocultures have burned, many houses have burned and we have many people without a place to live. A very sad and painful situation for the Chilean people.”

Viva Chile Packaging has not specified why some people decided to start the fires, but reports suggest the action could have been taken as a political protest against the government.Arauco indicates that 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) of its plantations could be affected by the fires. 

International support 
According to Viva Chile Packaging, it is still too early to fully understand how the fires will affect the pulp and paper industry, but the disaster will certainly have consequences.

Meanwhile, Chilean president Gabriel Boric has thanked his Brazilian counterpart, who offered US$672,000 in aid and said he would send an air force jet with firefighting equipment, personnel and experts. Spain, Colombia and Mexico are also providing assistance.

The EU is saying that France, Portugal and Spain are deploying more than 250 firefighters, coordination experts and medical personnel to the most affected areas via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

“Chile can count on our support in the fight against the devastating effects of climate change, which is a global challenge,” highlights EU high representative and vice-president Josep Borrell. 

Furthermore, US ambassador Carol Perez has donated 1,000 personal protective equipment kits to CONAF and Bomberos de Chile firefighters. The donation is part of the assistance the US government has provided to help combat the wildfires, which totals US$840,000.

By Natalie Schwertheim