Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137

By PATRICIA LUNA
Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February. The court in Valparaiso ruled Saturday that the two men can be held for 180 days while they are investigated. The chief prosecutor in the case says the main suspect is Francisco Mondaca, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter in Valparaiso who is accused of physically starting the fire. The prosecutor says flares and fireworks were found in Mondaca’s vehicle. The other suspect is identified as Franco Pinto, a former employee of the National Forest Corporation. He is accused of planning the crime.