Abstract

The chapter describes the current wildfire risk in Chile and the forecast mechanisms in place for fire management procedures. The country has a high seasonality of fire occurrence, linked to a Mediterranean climate and a highly concentrated spatial distribution of the main areas affected by fire. This knowledge is used to evaluate the meteorological risk at a national level, as well as the possibility of simulating forest fires for prediction purposes, using software developed in Chile and underpinned by a geographic database. The current challenge is to improve the index and to study the phenomenon of severity linked to potential fire impact in greater depth.