Twins Battling Wildfires: California shares Disaster Ready Guide to Chile

The last month of this year. One that has been so different and exhausting for humanity. It kept us physically apart but at the same time, more united than ever. With moments of conversation, reflection and learning on our different digital platforms. We still have an important one.

A few months ago we were talking about the intense fire season that affected California, which devastated more than 2 million acres, registering record numbers of burned acres. Since our beginnings, as the Chile California Council we have been committed to serving as a link to exchange all the knowledge obtained on how to face large forest wildfires between our trans-hemispheric twins.

That is why we are happy to announce the delivery of the “Disaster Ready Guide”, prepared by the State of California and CalOES, to happen next week, in a virtual event that will bring together some of our advisors, experts in the field, and authorities. from both places. We are sure that it will be a useful tool for Chilean organizations (and Chileans) who have to deal with these catastrophes. In addition, a new example of how valuable it is to take advantage of the learning curves in favor for both Chile and California, built upon real life experiences.

The CCC has historically strengthened cooperation between Chile and California – through ONEMI and CONAF in Chile, and CalOES and CAL FIRE in California – in wildfire prevention and emergency management. Before Chile’s fire season begins, we will hold a virtual event in which the “Disaster Ready Guide” will be delivered to Chile by the State of California and CalOES, which has the objective of preparing the population for these natural disasters before they strike.

The event will have the participation of the Vice Governor of California, Ms. Eleni Kounalakis, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Chile, Ms. Carolina Valdivia, and the Chair of the Chile California Council, Mr. Rafael Friedmann. There will also be a panel made up of Ms. Helen López, Assistant Director of Cal OES, Mr. Rodrigo Ortiz, Deputy Director of Risk Management of ONEMI, Ms. Jessica Morse, Deputy Secretary for Forests of Cal Fire, Mr. Patricio Sanhueza, Professional Technical Advisory Management of Forest Fire Protection of CONAF, María José Hess, Director of Communications and Projects of Friends of the Parks of Patagonia and Héctor Jorquera, Coordinator of the Community Prevention Network.

The event will be streaming on YouTube and, for those who need simultaneous translation, via Zoom.

-link of inscription for event: https://bit.ly/InscripciónGuía

-link of event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tscv3u-rNgs

Organizador/Organizer: Chile California Council
Fecha/Date: 16 de diciembre a las 3pm Chile / December 16th at 10am California.