Peru Wildfires Kill 12 as El Niño Tests State Response

Wildfires in Peru’s Andes have killed 12 people and affected 832 as the government prepares for an El Niño event expected to bring extraordinary coastal warming and above-normal rain to parts of the country. Luis Enrique Vásquez Guerrero, head of Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defence (Indeci), gave the death toll to Exitosa on Monday 19 October. The fires are burning in highland regions that include Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu.

Deaths and the fire count

Vásquez said 12 fires remained active and 12 had been controlled. He identified Río Tambo, in the central region of Junín, as the most critical case, with four active fires. The regions specified in the report account for nine of the 12 active fires: one in Áncash, two each in Apurímac and Cusco, and four in Río Tambo. The report didn’t identify where the other three active fires were burning or state how many hectares had burned nationally.

Vásquez said the fires had affected 832 people, mainly through burns. He named four deaths in Cusco, three in Cajamarca, two in Apurímac, two in Pasco and one in Puno. That total doubled the six deaths reported in early October. On Thursday 8 October, the daily Correo counted five deaths in Cusco and one in Puno.

Vásquez didn’t give the start date for his count. Andina reported a wildfire death in Pasco on Thursday 6 August, so the total may cover the whole dry season. Indeci’s written releases didn’t repeat the 12-death figure.

Preparedness and official accountability

Transport Minister José Angello Tangherlini said that “there are prevention actions that have not been carried out on time.” He said projections for El Niño had circulated since March 2026 and added: “The previous government had full knowledge of what awaited us with this El Niño phenomenon.” Exitosa published passages in which Tangherlini named no official from the previous government.

Tangherlini said President Keiko Fujimori’s government, which took office on 28 July, had focused on preparation, given the time that had passed and the need for permanent works. He said crews had completed 70% of work at 536 critical points nationwide. President Fujimori gave the same figures on Thursday 15 October, according to the state newspaper El Peruano. The report said it found no independent check of the 70% figure.

Tangherlini also said desilting had restored the Piura River’s channel capacity to a level not seen in 50 years. At the La Leche bridge in Lambayeque, concessionaire IIRSA Norte had started machinery work to clear the riverbed and protect the structure. The Ministry of Transport and Communications’ 14 October release on Tangherlini’s inspection listed channel cleaning and spot repairs. The report said it found no independent check of the 50-year claim.

A Chamber of Deputies release on Tuesday 29 September said its infrastructure committee would summon Tangherlini to report on Tuesday 20 October. No one confirmed whether the session went ahead. Which officials in the earlier government had failed to act also remained unclear.

El Niño outlook and travel

Peru’s multi-agency El Niño commission, ENFEN, issued Communiqué 18-2026 on Friday 16 October, putting an “Alert of Coastal El Niño” in force. It said coastal warming would most likely remain “extraordinary”—3.5 degrees Celsius or more above normal—until January 2027. ENFEN’s chart gave a 98% chance of an extraordinary event in October and 95% in November.

ENFEN expected above-normal rain on the north and central coasts for the rest of 2026, with river flows above normal from November in the Tumbes, Chira, Piura, La Leche and Jequetepeque rivers. For the southern highlands and the Amazon, it expected normal to below-normal rain and warned of water rationing if the central and southern highlands faced a rainfall deficit. The communiqué didn’t mention wildfires, and the report said the sources reviewed hadn’t established a link between the fires and El Niño.

Indeci and Defence Ministry fire releases reviewed for 5 to 17 October mentioned no tourist-site, road or rail closure. The U.S. State Department’s Peru advisory, dated 8 September 2026, rates the country Level 2, “Exercise Increased Caution,” and doesn’t mention wildfires or El Niño. Its Do Not Travel areas don’t include Cusco or nearby sites such as the Sacred Valley, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. Travellers booked on treks in Cusco, Apurímac or Puno were advised to ask operators about smoke and access. ENFEN’s next communiqué was due on 30 October.