LIST: Deadliest wildfires of the 21st century

Blazing wildfires in central Chile which have claimed at least 112 lives are among the deadliest this century.

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Here are the others:

2009: Australia, 179 dead

On February 7, 2009, which became known as “Black Saturday”, 179 people were killed when firestorms swept through towns and hamlets in the southeastern state of Victoria.

Whole towns, including Kinglake, Marysville, Narbethong, Strathewen, and Flowerdale and more than 2,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged in the fires which lasted several weeks.

2018: Greece, 193 dead

In Greece’s worst-ever fire disaster, 103 people died when wildfires swept through homes and vehicles in the coastal town of Mati near Athens in July 2018, leaving only charred remains.

Most of the victims were trapped by the flames as they sat in traffic jams while trying to flee. Others drowned while trying to escape by sea.

2023: Hawaii, 100 dead

The August 8, 2023 fire in the US state of Hawaii was the deadliest wildfire the United States has seen for more than a century.

It burned through around 2,000 acres (800 hectares), killing 100 people on the island of Maui. A handful of people are still listed as missing.

2021: Algeria, more than 90 dead

More than 90 people were killed in dozens of wildfires in northern Algeria in August 2021.

The fires affected 26 of the country’s 58 provinces, including the worst-hit province of Tizi Ouzou.

The government blamed arsonists and a blistering heatwave for the blazes, but experts also criticised authorities for failing to prepare for the annual wildfire season.

2018: California, 86 dead

On November 8, 2018 at dawn, California’s deadliest modern wildfire broke out in the town of Paradise, some 240 kilometres to the north of San Francisco, killing 86 people over more than two weeks.

Called the Camp Fire it ripped through a nearby timber plantation, spreading rapidly through thickly planted trees and logging debris to devour more than 62,000 hectares of land.

An investigation found that high tension electricity wires sparked the fire.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse