Chile President says wildfires now mostly under control

A flower shoots through a landscape razed by wildfires in Chile's Cauquenes community, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. The national forestry agency says Chile's raging wildfires have destroyed nearly 904,000 acres (366,000 hectares) since Jan. 15. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) (The Associated Press)

Alberto Diaz and his son Javier Diaz ride their bikes through a mountainous landscape scorched by wildfires in Chile's Cauquenes community, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. Strong winds are continuing to stoke the flames of raging wildfires in Chile. Firefighters and residents continue to fight the fast-spreading blazes on the ground while a Russian supertanker plane and a Brazilian Hercules dump thousands of gallons of water on the area southeast of the Chilean capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) (The Associated Press)

SANTIAGO, Chile – President Michelle Bachelet says the worst wildfires that Chile has suffered in its history are now mostly under control.

Bachelet said Saturday that for the moment there are no new blazes reported "and the rest are mostly controlled."

But she says in her daily briefing on the wildfires "that doesn't mean, however, that we are letting down our guard."

The arrival of rains and dropping of temperatures in recent hours have helped stop the fires from spreading.

Aaron Cavieres is director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation. He says, "we are nearing the end of this mega emergency."

Statistics from the forestry agency say that across the country flames have blackened (over 1 million acres) over a half million hectares during the current fire season that began on July 1.