Santiago, Chile Reuters —Wildfires in Chile have left at least 19 people dead, authorities said Monday, as the government carried out mass evacuations and fought nearly two dozen blazes exacerbated by intense heat and high winds. Parts of central and southern Chile were under extreme heat warnings, with temperatures expected to reach up to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). Hundreds of homes destroyedMost of those killed were in Penco, a small coastal city just north of the regional capital of Concepcion. Amid the wreckage was the corpse of one of her four dogs, some charred rings and a metal ladle. Both Chile and Argentina rang in the new year with heat waves, which have continued into January.
