Francisco Ruiz-Tagle: “We are very fully available to discuss and improve things”
CMPC CEO Francisco Ruiz-Tagle spoke with Radio Duna in the midst of the emergency due to the fires in south-central Chile. He addressed the company’s openness to dialogue and the presence of fake news around the industry. “We are subject to high international standards, which most people are unaware of,” he said.
The CMPC CEO discussed the forest fires affecting the La Araucanía, Biobío, Maule and Ñuble Regions in the Nada Personal program on Radio Duna. Regarding the company’s fire prevention and fighting forces, he said “We have been handling challenging seasons like this for the last five years because rainy spring seasons cause the grass to grow abundantly. When this combines with other dry materials and high temperatures with wind and heat, risky situations arise. We have about 1,400 firefighters, 22 aircraft, and 10 large-capacity helicopters. We’ve also built about 8,000 kilometers of firewalls, etc.”
In addition, he referred to the role of intentionality in this catastrophe and clarified that the company has already filed 136 police reports and 10 criminal complaints so far this fire season. “There are concrete indications showing that on a day that a fire is just about contained, multi-hotspot fires suddenly reappear,” he added.
At the same time, he addressed the questions that the industry is having and the fake news that has circulated about it. “This industry is very forward-looking and is unfortunately being demonized (…) We are very open to dialogue and improving things, but one must remember that we are subject to high international standards, which most people are unaware of,” he said.
