The country’s Congress, which resides in Valparaiso, and the city’s historic quarter, with its late 19th century architecture, were spared by the blaze.
President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of emergency and sent the army in to maintain order while ambulance crews treated people for smoke inhalation and other injuries. Bachelet arrived in the area Sunday to oversee an emergency committee’s response.
“The fire is still not completely extinguished,” said local government official Ricardo Bravo.
The city is spread out over more than 40 hills, hindering emergency vehicle traffic.
‘‘My brother’s house was entirely burnt. We had only finished it two weeks ago. We tried to save something but it was truly an inferno,’’ one resident, Cristobal Perez, told the Chilevision television network.
‘‘I started to become overcome by the smoke along with my two dogs. It was terrible – impossible to breathe,’’ another resident told the channel.
The vast blaze has caused cuts to power and drinking water in many areas of Valparaiso. Fires occur frequently in central Chile, where summer sends temperatures soaring. In February 2013, some 105 homes were destroyed in Valparaiso, affecting 1,200 people, after a 27-year-old man started a blaze.
The navy, which has a major base in the port city, immediately responded by taking over security. It deployed uniformed personnel into the streets to maintain order and to help with the evacuations.
Valparaiso is one of Chile’s most important ports. It lived its era of glory from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century as a stopover point for ships steaming down South America and to round its southern tip into the Atlantic Ocean.
The center of the city still features the many colored houses dating from that period, built by European immigrants. Its cobbled streets and funicular trams running up near-vertical rails supported its 2003 listing as a UNESCO-protected heritage site.
Wire services