The beaches of southern Valencia woke up this Wednesday covered by a trail of ash that had a clear origin: the fire in Vall d’Uixó (Castellón) which, since last Saturday, has not given firefighters a break as they fight to prevent it from ravaging the Sierra de Espadán. The fact that the charred remains have traveled 50 kilometers gives an idea of the ferocity of the flames consuming the interior of Castellón and part of Spain these days.
With about ten large active fires, the country now faces the battle against the fire with a new heat wave that could further hinder extinction efforts. In fact, although the fire was declared stabilized this Wednesday in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid—with the evacuation order also lifted in the province of Ávila—it remains uncontrolled in the interior of Castellón. In total, about 10,000 people still cannot return to their homes in Spain due to the large forest fires.
In the case of Castellón, the fire—whose origin last Saturday may have been intentional—has kept about 10,000 residents from 14 municipalities evacuated. Although it has not been declared controlled, the Generalitat has eased restrictions in recent days for a fire that confined a total of 64,000 people over the weekend.
The accumulation of smoke in the area has, in fact, become one of the headaches for the emergency management, to the point of sometimes preventing aerial firefighting operations. A complicated orography—with areas difficult to access for firefighting teams—and adverse weather conditions—wind, low humidity, heat…—explain why the Vall d’Uixó fire continues to advance.
Although firefighters believed in recent days that they were close to containing it, the fire has ravaged 9,300 hectares in five days, extends over a perimeter of 81 kilometers, and has put Arenal Sound, the festival starting this Thursday just 20 kilometers away, on alert. The operational director of the Advanced Command Post, Fernando Kindelán, admitted that it is “very difficult to make forecasts” about when it can be declared stabilized, as flare-ups still occur. The fire, which has mobilized more than a thousand personnel, is “very complex,” he admitted.
On the other hand, the situation is “favorable” for the fire that has burned 70,000 hectares between Madrid and Ávila. The Sierra Oeste fire in Madrid was declared stabilized this Wednesday, allowing the lifting of all restrictions in Ávila, with 50,000 hectares burned in what is the largest fire in Spain’s history. In the Community of Madrid, residents of Valdemaqueda and Robledo de Chavela were allowed to return home, although several residential areas in San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Pelayos de la Presa remain evacuated.
But this Wednesday another alarm was raised in Zamora, where Civil Protection had to order the evacuation of twelve municipalities due to a fire originating in Fermoselle. The Military Emergency Unit (UME) has joined the extinction efforts.
