Chile declares disaster as deadly fire storms historic port city

Chile mobilises military to help evacuate thousands in port city of Valparaiso threatened by huge, out-of-control forest fire VALPARAISO — Chile on Sunday mobilised its military to help evacuate thousands of people in its port city of Valparaiso threatened by a huge, out-of-control forest fire that has already killed four people and destroyed 500 homes.President Michelle Bachelet declared the massive blaze threatening the city — whose historic center is a protected Unesco heritage site — a disaster zone, permitting the armed forces to step in."This is the worst catastrophe Valparaiso has ever seen," the regional government administrator, Ricardo Bravo, told local reporters."We have four people dead — three men and a woman," Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo told Radio Cooperativa, giving a provisional death toll.More than 3,000 people have so far been evacuated from their homes on the heights above Valparaiso, a city of 270,000 people which lies on the Pacific coast 110km northwe...