Peru Wildfires Kill 12 as 832 People Are Affected

Wildfires in Peru’s Andes have killed 12 people and affected 832, mainly through burns, Luis Enrique Vásquez Guerrero, head of Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defence (Indeci), told Exitosa on Monday 19 October. Fires burn in highland regions including Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu. Twelve fires remained active; officials controlled 12 others.

Vásquez named four deaths in Cusco, three in Cajamarca, two in Apurímac, two in Pasco and one in Puno. Río Tambo, in the central region of Junín, remained the most critical case, with four active fires. The report didn’t state how many hectares had burned nationally.

The toll and the record

The reported death toll had doubled from the six deaths counted in early October. The daily Correo reported six deaths on Thursday 8 October: five in Cusco and one in Puno. Vásquez didn’t give a start date for the count. Andina reported a wildfire death in Pasco on Thursday 6 August, so the 12 deaths may cover the whole dry season.

The regions identified in the report accounted 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 the locations of the other three. Indeci’s written releases didn’t repeat the 12-death total.

Transport Minister José Angello Tangherlini said officials hadn’t completed prevention work on time. “There are prevention actions that have not been carried out on time,” he told Exitosa. He said projections for El Niño had circulated since March 2026, adding, “The previous government had full knowledge of what awaited us with this El Niño phenomenon.” Tangherlini named no official in the previous government in the passages Exitosa published.

Preparation and public works

Tangherlini said the government of President Keiko Fujimori, who took office on 28 July, had focused on preparation because time had passed and prevention requires 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.

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 either the 70% completion figure or the claim about the river’s capacity.

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

Warnings, access and economic exposure

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 sources reviewed didn’t establish a link between the fires and El Niño.

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. Indeci and Defence Ministry fire releases reviewed for 5 to 17 October mentioned no tourist-site, road or rail closures. Travellers booked on treks in Cusco, Apurímac or Puno were advised to ask operators about smoke and access.

The report said investors and exporters should follow transport ministry work on rivers and bridges, since above-normal river flows were expected from November. Peru is a U.S. free-trade partner under an agreement in force since 1 February 2009.

A Chamber of Deputies release on Tuesday 29 September said its infrastructure committee would summon Tangherlini to report on Tuesday 20 October; officials hadn’t confirmed whether the session went ahead. ENFEN’s next communiqué was due on 30 October. Official fire notices reviewed through 17 October showed no tourist-site, road or rail closure. Which officials in the earlier government had failed to act remained unclear.