The Infoex Plan of Extremadura declared this Friday Level 1 danger in the forest fire registered in Herrera del Duque (Badajoz), due to the possible impact on isolated homes near the fire and after 57 people had to be evacuated preventively.
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These are 48 workers and nine transporters from the bottling plant of Nestlé Aquarel, who have left the facilities due to the proximity of the flames. The evacuees left in their own vehicles, escorted by the Civil Guard, through a forest track that connects the factory with the Villarta de los Montes road, according to the 112 of Extremadura.
All of them have been transferred to the town of Villarta de los Montes. The evacuation was carried out for safety reasons and preventively due to the evolution of the fire.
Extinction efforts involve personnel from the Infoex Plan, with the collaboration of the Civil Guard. The mobilized device consists of six ground forest firefighter units, two helitransported units, two Natural Environment agents, and one extinction technician.
The operation also has a large aerial deployment, made up of four planes and four helicopters, as well as two heavy machinery vehicles, working to contain the advance of the flames and prevent their spread.
Risk remains in Tornavacas (Cáceres)
A forest fire has been declared in the municipality of Tornavacas (Cáceres), where ground and aerial means of the Extremadura Forest Fire Fighting Plan (Infoex) are already working for its extinction, reports EFE.
According to the Infoex Plan this Friday, the fire with two active fronts affects a high mountain area and the extinction efforts involve five ground forest firefighter units, two helitransported, two Natural Environment agents, two extinction technicians, as well as two helicopters and two planes.
Meanwhile, the Civil Guard indicated that around 4:45 a.m. the Operational Services Center (COS) 062 received a warning alerting the presence of fire in the area.
Once agents arrived at the site, they confirmed the existence of a forest fire with two active fronts, one located at the Tornavacas Pass and another in the area known as La Serrá.
The Junta of Castilla y León has incorporated different means to fight the fire declared in Tornavacas (Cáceres). Specifically, preventive measures have begun to be deployed in the border area with the aim of containing the advance of the flames towards the province of Ávila.
Specifically, Castilla y León has deployed helicopters and control lines through the bulldozer,” said the territorial delegate of Castilla y León, José Francisco Hernández Herrero.
Several active fires in León
The pressure of forest fires on the Bierzo region and the province of León continues to grow with five active fires.
The residents of La Somoza, in the Leonese municipality of Villafranca del Bierzo, have recovered electricity supply after being without power for 40 hours due to the consequences of the Veguellina forest fire, which remains at level two, the maximum, and has forced the evacuation of several towns; while the one in Valdelaloba, in Toreno, has improved in recent hours and has been downgraded to IGR 0.
Another fire was declared this Friday in San Tirso, in Vega de Valcarce, with a Potential Severity Index (IGR) of 1. There is another in Moreda, also in Bierzo, which has been ongoing since July 29; and another in La Utrera, in the Órbigo area, since July 28.
Perimeter of Fermoselle (Zamora) stabilized
The Junta of Castilla y León has declared the perimeter of the Fermoselle fire (Zamora) stabilized, which remains at Potential Severity Index (IGR) 2, although it has warned that special surveillance will still be necessary in some areas, a situation that has allowed the return of residents of Mámoles and Pinilla de Fermoselle, the only towns that remained evacuated due to the fire.
This was conveyed by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, Jorge Llorente, from the Advanced Command Post, where he explained that despite the favorable evolution of the fire, caution remains. “We can say that definitive progress has been made so that the perimeter does not increase,” he stated.
He also assured that it has been a “complicated” and “intense” fire, conditioned by changing weather conditions that have forced adaptation of extinction strategies on several occasions.
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Therefore, he recalled that the alert situation remains this weekend, with the prohibition of certain activities likely to cause new fires, and appealed to citizen responsibility to comply with these restrictions.
This return completes the relocation process of more than 800 residents who had been evacuated since last Wednesday due to the fire’s advance.
Fire in Vall d’Uixó (Castellón) declared stabilized after burning 9,568 hectares
The fire declared last Saturday in Vall d’Uixó (Castellón) has been declared stabilized after burning 9,568 hectares with a perimeter of 89 kilometers, and residents of the last two evacuated municipalities, Artana and Eslida, can now return to their homes.
This was stated by the Valencian Generalitat’s Emergency Minister, Juan Carlos Valderrama, after the Cecopi meeting at the Advanced Command Post (PMA) and the PMA’s technical operations director, Fernando Pérez.
The most affected municipality was Artana, with 3,160 hectares burned, of which 2,705 are forest hectares, and the fire has affected 12% of the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park.
The new phase means that, without being controlled, the fire evolves within control lines according to forecasts and extinction efforts. Therefore, he recalled that Emergencies has issued an information note sent to all affected municipalities recommending “avoiding any transit on the road network and recreational activities” until the fire is extinguished.
During the night, four Valencian Generalitat Forest Firefighter units will remain, two from Valencia and two from Castellón, reviewing and refreshing the area.
40 ground units and nine aerial means in Madrid
Forty ground units and nine aerial means will work this Friday to refresh the area affected by the fire in the western mountain range of the Community of Madrid with concern about the high temperatures forecast for today, according to the Madrid government on social media.
During the night, forty ground units continued finishing and refreshing the area affected by the fire in the western mountain range, with special attention to the San Juan reservoir (San Martín de Valdeiglesias), where a flare-up occurred yesterday.
After the fire was downgraded to operational situation 2, the regional government resumed coordination of the operation and will continue with surveillance and cooling efforts until the fire is definitively extinguished, as well as attending to the evacuated people.
Fire in Ávila, no progress
The forest fire in Burgohondo (Ávila) did not register changes in its perimeter this Thursday and maintained stable control lines throughout the day, according to the technical director of extinction of the operation, Álvaro Gómez.
Gómez explained that the affected area has remained unchanged since early morning and that the control lines “have not been breached anywhere along the perimeter.”
He also specified that only reactivations have occurred in hot spots, stumps, and trees, as well as in some unburned islands within the fire perimeter, reproductions that have been extinguished with the support of aerial means.
In this regard, he highlighted that aerial means have been operating over the fire throughout the day, without any “dry window” in which the fire remained without aerial coverage.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Thursday that, after hearing proposals from technicians and the communities of Madrid and Castilla y León, it was decided to downgrade the fires in Madrid and Ávila to level 2 emergency, which means the end of the national interest emergency.