The populations of Los Ángeles de San Rafael and Vegas de Matute, in Segovia, have been evacuated this Sunday as a preventive measure due to the fire that started this Saturday in Las Navas de San Antonio and which this afternoon has been raised to the highest level, 2, of the potential severity index.
Read more Evacuated the town of Catí due to the Tírig (Castellón) fire
The decision was made immediately after the urgent convening of CECOPI, given the evolution of the fire and the risk to these populations.
The City Council of El Espinar has informed that people who have their own vehicle and an alternative place to stay can carry out the evacuation on their own. For neighbors who need transport or assistance, buses have been arranged.
Likewise, the Espinar City Council has set up the Municipal Sports Center as a reception space to provide care and temporary accommodation to those who need it.
The evacuation is taking place while the firefighting device continues working against the forest fire, which has deployed numerous ground and air resources and whose evolution is conditioned by high temperatures and wind.
The fire was declared on Saturday afternoon after a vehicle caught fire on the shoulder of the AP-6, near the Telégrafo area, and the flames later spread to the forest environment.
Work on two fronts in Tirig
The Generalitat Emergencies has sent an Es-Alert message to the population of Catí informing about the evacuation of the municipality due to the Tírig forest fire. The population of Catí had been confined since Saturday after the Tírig fire advanced towards that municipality.
The residents of Catí have now received a message informing of the evacuation via the CV-128 or N-232 road towards Xert. The message text instructs the population to follow the instructions of the Civil Guard who is collaborating in the fire operation.
The fire was declared last Friday late afternoon and everything points to the cause being a lightning strike. Firefighting resources are working on two fronts, one in the north affecting the municipality of Catí and another in the south, in the Tírig area, whose situation has improved due to the increase in relative humidity this early morning in the area.
According to the technical director of the Advanced Post (PMA) of the fire, Antonio Rodrigo, after the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), all resources have been diverted to these two areas and “an attempt will be made to stabilize it as soon as possible”.
Rodrigo indicated that the increase last night of relative humidity to 70% “has helped contain the fire in the northern area of Catí and in the south because the fuel has regained moisture”.
Regarding the hectares burned so far by the Tírig fire, he indicated that they are about 395, with about 15 kilometers of perimeter, and reported that the fires declared on Friday in Culla and in the Serra d’en Galceran are already controlled.
About 300 personnel and 50 ground units are working on the ground and since 08:00 hours 19 aerial resources have joined, according to the Minister of Emergencies and Interior, Juan Carlos Valderrama, at the coordination center of the work. He recalled that “we are in a situation of dry storms” so he asked citizens to avoid making fires “because we need all firefighting services to be focused today on the Tírig fire”.
