CMPC CEO denounces the intentionality behind the fire hotspots and threats made against firefighters
In an interview with Radio Biobío, CMPC CEO Francisco Ruiz-Tagle recounted the intentional blockade of the road and the threats made against the CMPC firefighters who were on their way to stamp out the fires.
Francisco Ruiz-Tagle addressed the situation affecting Angol and Collipulli in which a group of company firefighters were intentionally prevented from passing through while on their way to put out a fire. “We have just gone through a completely unacceptable situation. Yesterday in Angol in the Totoras sector, people were blocking the road and threatening our CMPC firefighters, trying to prevent them from extinguishing the fires,” he said.
He pointed out that there were seven new fires with about 50 active hotspots in that area. “On Tuesday there were ten simultaneous outbreaks on one piece of private property that does not pertain to CMPC, which we fought anyway. Their actions not only cause more fires, they prevent us from fighting them,” he said.
“The biggest thing is that a single fire can cause a serious amount of damage. More important than the percentage of fires lit intentionally is what percentage of what was ultimately burned resulted from those intentional fires, which is not the same thing,” he added.
