More Than a Decade of Megadrought Brought a Summer of Megafires to Chile

Story and Photos by James Whitlow Delano

CHIGUAYANTE, Chile—As the dark curtain descended, turning the blazing afternoon sun over the braided currents of the Bío Bío River into a burnt orange twilight, a firefighting helicopter with a gigantic bucket dangling below it emerged from the gloom and followed the river back toward the city of Concepcion.