The forest fire declared this Wednesday in the Madrid municipality of Aldea del Fresno is now in the stabilization phase after a rapid and intense intervention by the firefighting teams. “The work of the firefighting services has been very effective”, highlighted Emergencies 112 Community of Madrid when updating the status of the operation, which keeps deployed 9 aerial and 33 ground resources to consolidate the perimeter over the next few hours.
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The favorable evolution of the fire, which has burned 330 hectares, comes after critical hours in which the proximity of the flames forced the entire population of Aldea del Fresno to be confined, according to the agency Efe. The rapid spread of the fire also forced the preventive evacuation of the Palomeque, Manga de la Pedrera, and Carbajo residential areas, as well as several homes in the María Elena residential area. In the neighboring town of Villamantilla, confinement was not decreed, but authorities prohibited residents from traveling towards the emergency site.
The fire originated at kilometer 52 of the M-510 road and led the Community of Madrid to activate Operational Situation 2 of the INFOMA Plan (Special Civil Protection Emergency Plan for Forest Fires). Given the magnitude of the incident, the Firefighters of the Community of Madrid, Forest Firefighters, and Forest Agents were urgently joined by the Military Emergency Unit (UME), deployed from its base in Torrejón de Ardoz, according to Europa Press.
During the peak of the emergency, significant mobility restrictions were applied. The evolution of the fire forced the complete closure of the M-510 between kilometers 50 and 54, as well as the suspension of bus line 548 of the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) and stop interruptions on lines 545, 546, and 547, according to official sources.
Both the Government Delegation in Madrid and the Community have reiterated the call to the population to avoid traveling to the affected area and to respect the instructions of the security forces while the operation continues to complete the work in the fire area.
With the improvement of the situation after the afternoon, confinements were lifted and the return of evacuated people was allowed. The two closed sections on the M-507 and M-510 roads were also reopened to traffic
