A firefighter was arrested on suspicion of starting the fires that claimed the lives of 137 people in the Chilean resort town of Viña del Mar at the beginning of February this year, reported Agence France Presse, quoted by BTA, referring to a statement by the chief of the local police, Eduardo Serna.
According to local media, the 22-year-old defendant started working in a volunteer division of the fire department a year and a half ago. According to official data, the victims of the forest fires that broke out in the Viña del Mar region are about 16,000.
"An arrest warrant was issued for the person who caused the fires in February in the Valparaiso region,", Serna said at a press conference given on the occasion of the conclusion of the investigation, reports AFP.
"We are completely devastated by what happened, which is an isolated incident... Our service has been taking care of Valparaiso for one hundred and seventy years and we cannot allow something like this," said Vicente Maggiolo, commander of the 13 fire brigade of city of Valparaiso.