SANTIAGO: A forest fire in south-central Chile engulfed and destroyed one of forestry and wood pulp giant Arauco's four local wood panel plants early on Monday, the company said, but none of its pulp plants have been affected.
Arauco, the forestry arm of Chilean industrial conglomerate Copec, is one of the world's top five wood pulp exporters and a leading producer in the global panel market.
A company spokesman said the blaze had destroyed Arauco's panel plant in the Nueva Aldea sector of Chile's Bio Bio region.
Chile's state emergency office ONEMI said the fire in the heavily forested Bio Bio region had scorched 10,000 hectares of land, burned dozens of houses, killed one person and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
Firemen are also fighting a separate blaze further south in Chile's majestic Torres del Paine national park, which has burned around 12,795 hectares of pristine woodland. Authorities have closed the park, and say they believe that fire was started by a tourist.
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