Homes destroyed in Chile forest fire

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Chile's President Sebastian Pinera travelled to Valparaiso on Tuesday (April 23) where firefighters have been battling large forest fires that have destroyed at least 60 homes and burned through nearly 150 acres of forests and grasslands, authorities said.

Television footage from the scene showed large fires burning near residential areas and distraught residents evacuating their homes as the fires approached.

"I can't explain how it happened, from one minute to the other the wind changed and it was horrible," said one woman who lost her home in the blaze.

Some 150 homes have been evacuated and seven units of firefighters have been battling the fires which erupted around the central port city of Valparaiso, some 60 miles (95 kilometres) west of the Chilean capital, Santiago.

Pinera said authorities were doing everything possible to put out the fires and help th