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Worst wildfires in Chile's history continue to burn

 Chile

A wildfire approaches Chile's Dichato community, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, where firefighters are working to keep the flames away from the estimated 800 homes. Families continue to be evacuated as firefighters battle the fires that are consuming a part of southern Chile. Photo: Esteban Felix, AP

The worst wildfires in the history of Chile continue to burn out of control, and little relief is expected over the next week.

As of Jan. 31, there were 111 active fires ongoing throughout the country. More than 1.4 million acres have been burned since July 1 of 2016 with most occurring in the last two months.

This is a 4,500-5,000 percent increase from the 2015-2016 wildfire season.

Several years of drought combined with an extended period of extreme heat and dry weather since December have helped to fuel the historic wildfires.