An entire town has been completely destroyed by flames, as the worst wildfires in Chile’s modern history continue to consume large swathes of the country. <br /><br /> Some 1200 homes in St Olga, the biggest of several communities in the central Maule region, have been reduced to smouldering ash. <br /><br /> Most of the town’s 6000 residents amazingly escaped unharmed, but one death has been confirmed and two people are still missing. <br /><br /> The extent of devastation has shocked many.<br /><br /> ‘‘The flames razed everything to the ground. We were fighting the flames with the neighbours for two days, making firewalls all around the area,’‘ said one man. <br /><br /> Fanned by strong winds, searing temperatures and a prolonged drought, nearly 100 separate fires have been recorded over an area estimated to be about twice the size of New York. <br /><br /> “The fire has destroyed more than 300 hectares, a bird farm, and 25,000 chickens that were ready to breed,” one farmer owner said. <br /><br /> Authorities suspect some of the fires were started deliberately. At least 10 people are thought to have been killed by the wildfires, the majority of those firefighters. <br /><br /> International aid has started arriving in Chile. The US and Russia have sent super-tanker aircraft capable of extinguishing the fires, while France, Peru and Mexico have also contributed to the effort.<br />
