Investigations Reveal Cover-Up in Valparaíso Wildfire Disaster: PDI Confirms Conaf Chief Ordered Log Alteration

Original article: «La habíamos cagado”: PDI concluye que jefe de Conaf ordenó alterar bitácora del megaincendio de Valparaíso

The formal charges against two senior officials from the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) for their alleged involvement in the tragedy that claimed 138 lives in the Region of Valparaíso during the megafire in February 2024 have been bolstered by a report from the Police Investigations (PDI), which not only dismantles the defendants’ claims regarding delays in evacuations but also uncovered a direct order from then-regional chief Juan Atienza to falsify the official alert records following the disaster.

A statement from a former official is damning: «we had messed up,» Atienza allegedly said upon realizing the extent of the error, instructing that areas already ravaged by flames be noted in the log.

The prosecution’s accusations against the former regional chief and Incident Commander Luis Correa regarding the crime of negligent homicide center on the manipulation of critical information for evacuations, based on the police report obtained by CIPER, which indicates that the Conaf log records an alert request for areas such as Jardín Botánico, Villa Dulce, and El Olivar at 6:39 PM on February 2, 2024.

However, as reported by the investigative outlet, this record is inconsistent with the rest of the log, since the Emergency Alert System (SAE), under Senapred, had issued alarms for those same locations two minutes earlier at 6:37 PM, acting autonomously, not at Conaf’s request.

«It is evident that something could not have been requested that was already in progress two minutes earlier,» stated the PDI report.

Conaf Chief: «We Had Messed Up«

The testimony of Juan Ilarrázabal, who worked at Conaf’s coordination center, directly connects Atienza to this falsification, as he recounts that the regional chief, with an «authoritarian tone,» demanded that the affected areas be added to the 6:39 log, justifying his order with the phrase he recalls verbatim: «we had messed up and that he would be questioned.»

The PDI concluded that this modification of the log was ordered by the highest authority in the department. Furthermore, in its report, it noted that the added paragraph differs in its wording from the rest of the document, using abbreviations like «J.B.» or «Villa D» instead of full names, a detail that reinforces the theory of evidence alteration.

Wind, Communications, and an Overlooked Flyover

The defendants, Atienza and Correa, have maintained that the delayed evacuation activations were due to a sudden change in wind direction that was not anticipated, affecting the fire’s progress toward urban areas.

However, PDI’s investigations refute this claim, having determined that since the fire’s ignition, the meteorological parameters, especially wind direction and speed, «were consistently from South to North and of high velocity,» meaning they were directly aimed at the populated centers of Viña del Mar and Quilpué.

The alleged lack of sufficient information and operational communication channels is another argument that the police investigation dismantles. According to the report, at 5:39 PM, the Charlie-Torre lookout tower reported a new and dangerous fire focus in Fundo Siete Hermanas, just a few kilometers from Viña del Mar. While Atienza was surveying the area by helicopter, witnesses and records indicate that this crucial information was indeed received at the command post where Correa was located, who also had a meeting with Atienza minutes after landing at 6:25 PM, without alerts being activated. A text message sent from the helicopter at 5:40 PM by Erik Ortega, coordinator of Conaf’s Regional Coordination Center (Cencor), already warned that the fire was one kilometer from the Pompeya Sur population in Quilpué.

Pressures and Harassment to Exculpate Atienza

The investigation also reveals a report of workplace harassment by engineer Marcela Vega, former head of the Fire Analysis and Prediction Unit in Valparaíso, who testified to the PDI that she was forced to resign after enduring «relentless workplace harassment» and refusing to manipulate a simulation of the megafire, with the explicit goal of providing evidence that could «save» Juan Atienza in the investigation.

According to her testimony, a superior allegedly told her that the institution would not support Atienza, so they needed to provide him with «everything that could help him save himself.»

What Do the Defenses and the Prosecution Say?

Despite the findings, the defenses of both defendants have chosen silence until the formal charges are announced, CIPER noted. The Public Criminal Defense Office, representing Atienza, and Correa’s lawyer, Sebastián Canales de Rurange, invoked the confidentiality of the investigation to refrain from commenting on the matter.

On the other hand, prosecutor Claudio Rebeco, from the Regional Anti-Corruption Unit, stated that, despite having sufficient information on the fire’s progression, «they did not activate the evacuation alert system in a timely manner.»