More than 60,000 people are already confined or evacuated due to the fires declared in the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila on a day that could be key to trying to control a fire that authorities have defined as “beyond extinguishing capacity.” The “most serious in Madrid’s history,” according to the president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
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The majority of the affected people, about 50,000, are from the Madrid municipalities of the western Madrid mountain range affected by the evacuations, while about 13,000 are from the Ávila area hit by fires feared to merge at some point and create a single front difficult to combat. Late yesterday, another 5,000 new evacuees were reported from a campsite in El Escorial due to the danger posed by the proximity of the fire.
Masks return to Madrid streets due to smoke and burnt smell
The smoke and intrusion of air masses of African origin have caused Madrid’s sky to dawn with a brown color and the atmosphere emits a burnt smell, which has led many residents and tourists to put masks back on and close their windows despite no health risk.
With a temperature not rising above 30º, and more than 70 kilometers from the fires ravaging the western Madrid mountain range, the city also experiences the consequences of this fire, although sources from the 112 Emergency Service of the Community of Madrid have confirmed there is no health risk.
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Sánchez announces that the Madrid and Ávila fires will be treated as one
The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the fires in the Community of Madrid and Ávila will start to be treated as one and the emergency command will be unified from now on. “Our priority is to safeguard the lives of residents and population centers,” he stated afterwards.
“All means are being made available to municipalities to accommodate evacuees. We have taken the lead in responding to these fires, which are now treated as one,” he confirmed. “Agility in response, coordination of resources, and efficiency. Right now we have a window of opportunity this weekend to control the fire,” he pointed out.
“The forecasts we have indicate that we will have complex hours because we will not know the evolution of the winds, their intensity, or if storms will occur,” the president acknowledged.
Fire caused accidentally in Castropodame (León) downgraded to severity 0
The favorable evolution of the fire caused accidentally in Castropodame (León) has allowed the Junta to downgrade its danger to Potential Severity Index (IGR) 0 early this Saturday, according to the regional government via the official social media account @naturalezacyl, reports Europa Press.
This favorable evolution already allowed the rehousing of residents evacuated from the towns of San Pedro Castañero and Turienzo Castañero late Thursday.
Likewise, the Junta downgraded its status to Potential Severity Index (IGR) 1 and demobilized the Military Emergency Unit (UME) from the area.
Galicia offers to mobilize more personnel to fight fires in Madrid and Ávila
The Minister of Rural Affairs, María José Gómez, highlighted that Galicia has “capacity to mobilize more people” to combat the large forest fires affecting Ávila and Madrid, reports Europa Press.
In statements at Praza do Obradoiro before participating in the Offering to Apostle Santiago, the minister explained that the Xunta responded on Thursday to a request from Castilla y León to send 14 people from O Barco (Ourense) to Bembibre.
After that, last Friday the central government requested resources for Ávila and Madrid, to which Galicia deployed more than 60 people on the ground, describing the situation as “complex.”
Between 13,000 and 15,000 hectares burned in Ávila
In a new update, it is confirmed that the fire in Ávila has already burned between 13,000 and 15,000 hectares. Additionally, 5,150 people have been evacuated in Burgohondo, Hoyo de Pinares, Villanueva de Ávila, and La Atalaya del Tiemblo. There are also 8,635 people confined in Cebreros, Navaluenga, and El Tiemblo.
Ayuso and Sánchez at the command post
The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, arrived around 9:45 a.m. in the town of Cenicientos (Madrid) to follow the evolution of the fires in Madrid.
Upon arrival, accompanied by the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Government Delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, the head of government greeted the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Sánchez visits the area affected by the fires in Madrid, accompanied by the Interior Minister, and attends the meeting of the State Coordination and Direction Committee of the State Emergency Plan (CECOD), at the Advanced Command Post (PMA) in Cenicientos (Madrid).
Firefighters declare the high mountain fire in Farrera (Lleida) stabilized
The Generalitat Firefighters declared the high mountain fire in Farrera (Lleida) stabilized last night, which according to initial hypotheses was caused by lightning, reports Efe.
Personnel maintain six truck crews and several units of the GRAF – Forest Action Support Group – and EPAF – Active Forest Prevention Team – this morning to extinguish the fire, according to Bombers de la Generalitat on social media this Saturday.
According to provisional data provided last night by the Rural Agents and pending update, the fire has affected about 30 hectares of forest land.
The Madrid fires have advanced little overnight and intensity has dropped significantly
The fires in Madrid “have advanced little” during the night and “have dropped significantly in intensity,” according to sources from the Government Delegation in Madrid.
The Ávila front has not crossed into the Community of Madrid. The front’s advance has mainly occurred in Cebreros and El Tiemblo.
The Community of Madrid front has advanced less during the night. The head is established in Robledo de Chavela and Fresnedillas de la Oliva.
The change in weather conditions, with less wind, higher humidity, and lower temperature, has greatly benefited the fight against forest fires, according to the same sources.
The fire ravaging the southwest corner of the Community of Madrid has already burned 9,940 hectares.
The Cerro Muriano (Córdoba) fire remains active but is evolving favorably
The forest fire in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba) declared on Friday afternoon and caused by a truck loaded with straw burning on the N-432 road remains active and is evolving favorably after an intense night of work to try to control the fire, reports Efe.
Infoca has reported that the fire is currently still active and the emergency phase remains activated, operational situation 1, while the ground device has been slightly reduced, composed of 100 personnel, 4 fire engines, 4 water tankers, and 4 helicopters.
Valencia firefighters deployed to help extinguish fires in Madrid and Ávila
A contingent of firefighters from the Valencia City Council will travel this Saturday to Madrid to assist in extinguishing the forest fires ravaging this community and the neighboring province of Ávila, reports Efe.
The device consists of six firefighters, a corporal, a sergeant, and an officer, along with three vehicles (a heavy water tender with 11,000 liters of water and two light vehicles), as well as other equipment to manually fight the flames.
This was announced by the Prevention and Fire Extinction councilor, Juan Carlos Caballero, and the Valencia Fire Officer, Pedro Canales, who saw off this team early, which will travel to Utiel (Valencia) to join the regional device departing this Saturday to Madrid.
Aagesen: “Even if the risk decreases, let’s not lower our guard”
14 reception points
The Community of Madrid maintains 14 active reception points where 2,064 people displaced by the fires are already being attended to.
The devices, enabled in coordination with municipalities, are distributed among Las Rozas (250), Villamanta (220), Villaviciosa de Odón (215), Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, and Alcobendas (200 each), Brunete (182), Leganés (171), Getafe (150), Alcorcón (102), Villanueva de la Cañada (72), Villamantilla (60), Navalcarnero, and Villanueva de Perales (21 each).
Decrease in fire intensity in Madrid
The fires overnight in the Madrid region have advanced “little and have dropped significantly in intensity,” according to the Madrid Government Delegation this Saturday, due to a change in weather conditions (less wind, higher humidity, and lower temperature), reports Efe.
Regarding the road network, it remains restricted to traffic and only emergency services are authorized to circulate on the M-501, M-507, M-512, and M-533.
So far, the evacuated towns are Chapinería, Navas del Rey, Colmenar del Arroyo, Fresnedillas de la Oliva, Robledo de Chavela, Navalagamella, Valdemaqueda, Aldea del Fresno, Zarzalejo, and Peralejo.
Confinements remain in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Pelayos de la Presa, and Villa del Prado.
Fires cause closure of 35 roads across Spain
The multiple active fires in Spain have caused the closure of 35 roads in the early hours of this Saturday, fourteen of them in Guadalajara, nine in Ávila, eight in the Community of Madrid, three in Teruel, and one in Huelva, reports Efe.
According to the Ministry of Interior’s balance distributed to the media, at 7 a.m. today, 35 roads—all regional and local—remain closed due to the fires, most of them in both directions.
The closures in Castilla-La Mancha affect roads in Guadalajara connecting towns such as Tordelloso, Alpedroches, La Huerce, or Arbancón.
In the Community of Madrid, there are closures on roads in municipalities affected by the mountain fire that has caused the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.
Also in Ávila, where more than 13,000 people have been evacuated, there are closures on roads between Cebreros, La Atalaya, El Tiemblo, or Burgohondo, among others.
In Teruel, three roads are closed: those of Ejulve and those connecting Dos Torres de Mercader with Casas de la Umbría and Castellote.
In Huelva, the affected road is the A-475 between Villanueva de las Cruces and Tharsis.
“More favorable” fire forecast for this Saturday due to wind change
After a night with westerly winds, the forecast for the fire area this Saturday is “more favorable,” as the wind will shift to northwest from 10:00, causing the smoke plume from the western mountain range to move towards the southern area of the Community of Madrid, according to SAMUR-Protección Civil and reported by Efe.
They added via a social media message that the forecast for the fire area today is maximum wind gusts around 39 km/h and a maximum temperature of 28°C, from 15:00 to 19:00.
For now, it is recommended to continue using FFP2 masks outdoors, and vulnerable populations and those with respiratory conditions should limit exposure.
Italian and Greek aerial resources requested from Brussels arrive in Spain this Saturday
This Saturday, aerial resources from Italy and Greece will arrive in Spain to help combat the active fires after the government requested the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism on Friday due to the severity of the fires affecting the Community of Madrid and Ávila.
Three people will arrive “in advance” on a commercial flight Saturday morning, and there is no scheduled time yet for the arrival of the requested resources, according to the Ministry of Interior’s statement to Europa Press on Friday.
As reported to Europa Press by Moncloa sources on Friday, both Greece and Italy had already accepted the request, offering two Canadair CL-415 planes each.
Extinguishing efforts in Madrid worked “intensively” overnight
The fire extinguishing services in the Community of Madrid worked “intensively” overnight to take advantage of favorable night weather conditions and try to stop the advance of the flames, which will depend on the wind regime in the coming hours.
The 112 emergency service of the Community of Madrid reported on social media that extinguishing services worked overnight to take advantage of weather conditions but warned that the fire remains active and its evolution will be determined by Saturday’s winds.
During the night, 112 deployed a device to assist residents of affected towns with 17 ambulances, a psychologist, and two intensive care units (ICU).
Communications begin to be restored in Madrid towns affected by the fire
The Community of Madrid reported Friday night that communications are progressively being restored in areas affected by the forest fire impacting the southwest of the region, reports Efe.
According to the regional government, work on affected telecommunications infrastructure has allowed progressive restoration of service in various population centers, reducing the impact on residents and ensuring continuity of connections.
At the peak of the impact, according to the Community, incidents affected 16 municipalities in the Community of Madrid, impacting around 40 population centers.
Forest fire in La Juanita area of Alosno (Huelva) stabilized
The Infoca Plan declared the fire reported after 14:00 on Friday in the La Juanita area of Alosno (Huelva) stabilized at 22:15. This is the second fire recorded in less than 48 hours in this municipality, although initial indications suggest it is a new incident and not a reactivation of the fire extinguished on Thursday.
This was stated by the first vice president and Minister of Presidency, Health, and Emergencies of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, in a message published on his official social media profile ‘X’, consulted by Europa Press.
Evacuations due to Cerro Muriano (Córdoba) fire rise to over 200
The number of evacuees due to the forest fire declared Friday in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba) rises to 215 people from the Villa Sanjurjo and Villa Alicia areas, according to the first vice president and Minister of Presidency, Health, and Emergencies of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz. The fire, caused by a truck loaded with straw that caught fire on the N-432, has also forced activation of the emergency phase, operational situation 1, of the Infoca Plan, reports Europa Press.
The minister stated in a message published on his official social media account ‘X’, consulted by Europa Press, that efforts have focused on the left flank to protect the urbanizations and now the right flank is being reinforced due to a forecasted wind change that, however, “points to low intensity.”
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