Seven families affected by rural fires received homes donated by CMPC in Laja, Biobío Region

Together with Desafío Levantemos Chile [the Support Chile Challenge] CMPC made a commitment to collaborate with the municipal district and aid families affected by the summer fires, also adding a surveillance van for the municipality, so it can conduct security rounds in rural zones.

The rural fires that hit the community of Laja in the Biobío Region in February 2023 left a trail of destruction that affected hundreds of residents. The flames swept through vast rural areas, leaving many people homeless or with significant damage to their dwellings. In fact, 25 families lost their homes entirely due to the voracity of the fire that even claimed the life of a beloved member of the community.

Faced with this scenario, the municipality of Laja contacted CMPC to request that aid be sent to those neighbors. In coordination with Desafío Levantemos Chile, the company delivered seven homes to affected families in the zone of kilometer 14 of route Q-90 who lost everything. The houses are either 48 or 50 square meters and have two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room. Construction began on the first houses in May and the last two were finished in August.

On Tuesday, October 3, a symbolic ceremony was held at the facilities of Casa de Botes de Laja during which the keys were handed over to the families of Marco Salgado, Alejandro Muñoz, Andrés Vergara, Cecilia Neira, Jaime Cea, Carlos Figueroa and Clotilde Gacitúa.

The event was attended by Roberto Quintana, mayor and elected councilors of Laja along with CMPC representatives Francisco Reveco, Horacio Pérez and Christian Santibáñez. Cristian Briones, Frank Oyarzun and César Soza from Desafío Levantemos Chile Foundation, neighborhood council and senior citizen community center leaders as well as the recipients of the houses were also in attendance.

“These are actual, solid concrete structures; not emergency housing. They’re houses for people to live in, God willing, for the rest of their lives, so that’s the important thing, to really thank CMPC for its help. There are seven houses with seven families that are very happy today. Perhaps in terms of wanting to do more, we haven’t achieved it yet because there are insufficient resources to help all the other neighbors who’ve also suffered, but this is progress,” said Mayor Roberto Quintana.

“We have mixed feelings about everything. It’s somewhat difficult to think about the tragedy, but we are certainly very happy to be able to provide these seven houses, which is a result of the request made by the mayor and the Ríos de Laja neighborhood council. In addition to Laja, Yumbel, San Rosendo, Santa Juana, Nacimiento and Concepción, many other areas were affected, so we’ve been taking measures to support our neighbors through the CMPC Restore Rebuild program,” said Christian Santibáñez, head of the Los Angeles community relations department for CMPC.

During the ceremony, the donation of a modern van fitted with safety equipment was also announced so that the municipality can extend its surveillance rounds to rural areas. Once the event was over, the families went to the area where the new houses were built where they had the chance to talk about their experiences with local authorities and comment on the new stage of life they’re in.

For Ruth Coronado, who had lost her home, this new one is a fresh start. “We’re living in our new home now, thank God. We have our house, and we’ve been in it for a month now. We are rebuilding everything from scratch you might say, because in reality, everything that was in our home was destroyed. The memories are what hurts the most. It’s the part that’s truly lost. We don’t have any photographs, but they remain in our memories. The fires are in the past, and it’s time to live in the present, which is what we’re doing today.”

Cecilia Neira tried to set up her new house on the inside to be as similar as possible to the one destroyed in the fire in order to preserve family memories. “I’m very happy to start again, after going through this difficult period. I’m very grateful to all the people who’ve supported us this whole time. There have been many people here for us like the municipality, friends, family and especially my mother who, although she is no longer with us, she loved this place and was very happy here.”

For Jaime Cea, the pain was immense. He had just finished remodeling his home when the fire took everything. That’s why I was very happy to have this donation. “I want to thank the people who allowed this beautiful dream of having our own home come true. I’m also grateful that I’ve been able to get into my new house within the predetermined time frame. I’ve lost everything. Starting over means becoming enchanted once again with the countryside and its beauty, so I offer my endless thanks to whoever deserves it.”

On the occasion municipal authorities, local residents and CMPC representatives highlighted the importance of working on fire prevention with the community to eliminate the potential for the kind of damage we saw at the beginning of the year from happening again this summer season. On Friday the provincial Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid) will hold a session to start planning joint efforts to prepare and coordinate the different entities called to address this kind of emergency.