Residents have begun assessing the extent of the damage from a fire that has swept over the hills outside the Chilean port city of Valparaiso.<br /><br /> What happened?<br /><br /> The fire broke out on Monday.<br /><br /> Television footage showed huge brown-gray columns of smoke emanating from a neighbourhood high in one of the city’s hills.<br /><br /> The blaze destroyed dozens of homes and injured at least 19 people.<br /><br /> An estimated 400 people were evacuated from their homes.<br /><br /> 47,000 customers were affected by a power cut, but this was later restored to all but 350.<br /><br /> Firefighter watches his own house burn<br /><br /> Valparaíso: El heróico gesto del bombero que se volvió viral en Chile – El Comercio https://t.co/BOhvcflRzD— Juan Ugaz (@JuanCugaz) January 3, 2017<br /><br /> Firefighter Juan Carlos Espinoza is a rescuer but also a victim.<br /><br /> “I work as a lifeguard during the Summer. I was on the beach when I saw the large plume of smoke so I made my way over.”<br /><br /> “When I arrived on the scene, I could see my own house was one of those that had been burnt to the ground.”<br /><br /> Why did the fire take hold?<br /><br /> The authorities say the blaze was fanned by gusty winds and high temperatures.<br /><br /> Poor sanitation was also to blame as the fire fed on rubbish deposited in small ravines that run through the city.<br /><br /> Is this the first time it has happened?<br /><br /> No.<br /><br /> In 2014, a forest fire destroyed 2,500 homes and killed 15 people in the hills that surround Valparaiso.<br /><br /> Valaparaiso – “scenic but gritty”<br /><br /> The scenic but gritty port city of 285,000 is the centre of a metropolitan area of around one million people.<br /><br /> It is the second largest urban district in Chile.<br /><br /> The colonial-era city is known for its colourfully-painted cliff-top houses.<br /><br /> Built on steep hillsides in an area covered in pines, many of the city’s wooden structures are susceptible to fire, especially in the poorer neighbourhoods higher in the hills.<br /><br /> It was designated a World Heritage site in 2003.<br /><br /> In tweets<br /><br /> Fire ravages Valparaiso, sends people fleeing for their lives https://t.co/UCPSYq0CrC pic.twitter.com/T4NjLG0xk7— euronews (@euronews) January 3, 2017<br /><br /> Some 400 people evacuated as large fire burns at least 100 homes in coastal Chilean city of Valparaiso pic.twitter.com/Wv4bHxb1Xf— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) January 3, 2017<br /><br /> Hundreds of people were evacuated after a massive forest fire destroyed at least 100 homes in Chile’s Valparaiso pic.twitter.com/LH4DNKRV0N— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 3, 2017<br /><br /> Huge wildfire burns homes in Valparaiso, Chile, forcing authorities to evacuate hundreds of people https://t.co/daIvonCdK3 pic.twitter.com/9f5xaZY2D0— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 3, 2017<br /><br /> Both sides of life can be shocking sometime #Valparaiso pic.twitter.com/X57ygFhixZ— Esteban Beltramin (@beltramin_e) January 3, 2017<br />
