Chile's worst bushfires destroy town, total death toll at 9

Flames from one of Chile's worst bushfires completely consumed the town of Santa Olga as the death toll from the blazes since November rose to nine, officials said.

The flames engulfed the post office, a kindergarten, and about 1,000 homes on Friday (AEDT) in the town 360 kilometres south of the Chilean capital.

The body of one person was found under the charred remains of the town, which another 6,000 residents fled unharmed. Officials have not identified the person who died.

"This is an extremely serious situation of horror, a nightmare without an end," said Carlos Valenzuela, the mayor of the neighbouring coastal city of Constitucion.

"Everything burned."

Authorities found another body burned inside a house destroyed in the flames about 140 kilometres south of Santa Olga in the coastal city of Concepcion, said Andrea Munoz, the governor of Concepcion province.

The fast-spreading blazes of recent weeks have destroyed about 160,000 hectares of forest and killed eight people.

They include a firefighter and two police officers.

Photo A man stands with his mouth covered in Santa Olga.

AP: Javier Torres

The fires have been raging in central and southern Chile, fanned by strong winds, hot temperatures and a prolonged drought.

Emergency services have battled the flames non-stop for days with firefighters on the ground and helicopters and small airplanes in the air.

But the ferocity of the flames prompted President Michelle Bachelet to ask for international help.

A Boeing 747-400 "Super Tanker" has arrived in Chile from the United States to help fight the blazes.

The world's largest firefighting aircraft can dump nearly 73,000 litres of fire retardant or water.

A delegation of Colombian experts was to assist Chilean firefighters on Friday.

The central regions of O'Higgins and Chile's top wine-making region of Maule are among those hit worst.

But fires are also raging in the south-central Bio Bio and Araucania regions, known for its timber industry and where most of Chile's Mapuche Indigenous people live.

Interior Minister Mahmud Aleuy more fires are expected with forecasts of hotter temperatures, strong winds and low humidity in the coming days.

AP