SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean judge on Saturday ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire in the Valparaiso region that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February.

The court in Valparaiso ruled the two men, who were arrested Friday, could be held for 180 days while they are investigated.

The chief prosecutor in the case, Osvaldo Ossandón, told journalists that the main suspect is Francisco Mondaca, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter in Valparaiso who is accused of physically starting the fire. He said flares and fireworks were found in Mondaca’s vehicle.

The other suspect was identified as Franco Pinto, a former employee of the National Forest Corporation. He is accused of planning the crime.

The regional prosecutor for Valparaiso, Claudia Perivancich, said investigators have evidence the two men agreed “in advance to carry out conduct of this type when the weather conditions were adequate.”

Prosecutors said that according to Mondaca’s testimony, there was an economic motive behind the plot — providing more work in fighting fires. They said they had not ruled out the possibility of more people being involved.

The commander of the Valparaiso Fire Department, Vicente Maggiolo, said, “We are very dismayed by the situation.”

Maggiolo called it an isolated incident and said it should not tarnish the work of the fire department. “We have been saving lives for more than 170 years,” he told TVN.

Christian Little, executive director of the forestry department, described the detention of a former official as “a pain” for the agency.

Both the fire department and forestry agency said they would tighten hiring procedures.

The megafire began Feb. 2 in the Lago Peñuelas nature reserve, in the central region of Chile, and for several days burned several communes, including destroying more than 10,000 homes. It is considered Chile’s worst tragedy since a magnitude 8.8 earthquake killed more than 500 people on Feb. 27, 2010.

The Biden administration is warning China to “act with restraint” after the CCP-controlled Chinese military ran provocative military drills near Taiwan on Friday.

Dozens of Chinese navy vessels and warplanes were spotted off the coast of Taiwan on Friday, according to Taiwanese military officials. 49 Chinese warplanes and 19 navy vessels were counted in total.

Taiwanese officials reported that 35 of the Chinese planes flew across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which is considered the de-facto boundary between the two countries.

In a statement published on Saturday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. is “deeply concerned” over the military drills.

CHINA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS TAIWAN INAUGURATION, PHILIPPINES STANDOFF IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

“We are monitoring PRC activities closely and coordinating with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns,” the statement read. “We strongly urge Beijing to act with restraint.”

“Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms that for decades have maintained peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is critical for regional and global security and prosperity and a matter of international concern,” Miller added.

CHINA SANCTIONS FORMER REPUBLICAN REP MIKE GALLAGHER AFTER TAIWAN PRESIDENT’S INAUGURATION

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, newly commissioned navy ships are seen in the northern Taiwan port of Suao on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.  (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin blasted the U.S.’s previous calls for restraint in response to past military drills.

“[The U.S.] is in no position to make such irresponsible remarks,” Wang was quoted as saying.

The drills come as tensions continue to intensify in the region. Former Taiwanese navy captain Lu Li Shih told Sky News that China is “preparing for war.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin attends a regular press conference on May 24, 2022 in Beijing, China. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

“China is preparing for war based on the number of military ships and the hiring of new recruits. It’s all for self-defense, and Taiwan,” the former captian said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Scores of people were killed or wounded when an aerial bomb hit a large store in the city of Kharkiv on Saturday afternoon, according to local officials.

The airstrike caused a huge fire to break out, with huge plumes of smoke seen filling the sky in social media footage. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 200 people could have been inside the store. 

A second bomb hit the city’s central park, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Zelenskyy called the airstrike “a manifestation of Russian madness”, and appealed to Western countries to provide Ukraine with air defence systems.

“When we tell world leaders that Ukraine requires adequate air defence protection … we are literally talking about how not to allow such terrorist strikes,” he said in a post on X.

“Only madmen like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are capable of killing and terrorising people in this way,” Zelenskyy added.

Kharkiv region is situated about 20 kilometres from the Russian border. 

Moscow’s troops have in recent weeks captured villages in the area as part of a broad push, and analysts say they may be trying to get within artillery range of Kharkiv city. 

Ukrainian authorities have evacuated more than 11,000 people from the region since the start of the offensive on 10 May.

Russia’s Kharkiv push appears to be a coordinated new offensive that includes testing Ukrainian defences in the Donetsk region further south, where Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces had taken over the village of Arkhanhelske. 

They have also launched incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin’s army is attempting to create a “buffer zone” in the Kharkiv region to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.