(Bloomberg) -- Wildfires raging across central Chile burnedthe rural town of Santa Olga last night as temperatures hit recordhighs and authorities struggled to cope in a country accustomed tonatural disasters.

The fires destroyed as many as 1,000 homes late yesterday inSanta Olga, 260 kilometers to the south of Santiago, according toCarlos Valenzuela, the mayor of the neighboring city ofConstitucion. The blazes have now cost the lives of sevenfirefighters, police and local citizens.

“Thousands of people have lost their homes,” Valenzuela toldRadio Cooperativa. “There are areas that have been completelyabandoned and handed over to the fire. Unfortunately, they arebeing razed to the ground.”

$170M agricultural loss already

Since coming to power in March 2014, President Michelle Bachelethas had to deal with a series of natural disasters, includingearthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and fires. The latestdisaster has already cost the agricultural sector alone $170million, according to estimates by ColliersInternational. Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes told reportersMonday that the government could deal with the current fireswithout extra borrowing. Since then though, the devastation hasworsened.

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About 260,000 hectares have been consumed by more than 100separate fires, many of them in the wine valley of Colchagua andthe rich forestry lands further south, according to the ForestryAgency, Conaf. Bachelet has called the fires the worst forestrydisaster in the country’s history.

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People react to the advancement of a forest fire in Hualañe,a community in Concepcion, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 25,2017. (Alejandro Zoñez/Aton via AP)

Record heatwave

Stoking the flames has been a heatwave across central Chile, withtemperatures regularly peaking above 35 degrees Celsius. Yesterday,the temperature peaked at 37.4C in Santiago, a record for the citythat came just five weeks after the previous record was set,according to the country’s meteorological unit. The city has oftenbeen clouded in smoke from the forest fires.

Lucy Ana Aviles, the Chilean wife of Wal-Mart heir BenjaminWalter, has spent $2 million to dispatch a 747 SuperTanker from theU.S. to help combat the fires. The plane started operatingyesterday. A state of catastrophe continues in areas to the southof Santiago, allowing the government to call in the army forhelp.

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Natural disasters have become all too familiar in Chile in thepast few years. In early January, parts of the coastal city ofValparaiso, a world heritage site, were destroyed by fire, just twoyears after others sections of the same city were burnt down.

In September 2015, an earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richterscale hit the town of Illapel, while another measuring 8.2 damagedthe town of Iquique in April 2014. In March 2015, floods killed atleast 28 people when torrential rain hit the northern desert, whilea month later the Calbuco volcano exploded in southern Chile.

Firefights are now struggling to cope with the latestdisaster.

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Firefighters dig trenches in a effort to stop theadvancement of a forest fire in Hualañe, a community in Concepcion,Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (Alejandro Zoñez/Aton viaAP)

A youth wearing a head lamp watches a forest fire rage on amountain in Cajon del Maipo, on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile,Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Chile is suffering one of its worst firewaves in history. The fires have outpaced local ability to put themout, forcing Chile to request international aid. (AP Photo/EstebanFelix)

This Jan. 21, 2016 shows a home and bicycles destroyed by aforest fire in Pumanque, Chile. AP Photo/EstebanFelix)

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