The hope was that by nightfall the temperatures would drop and the wind would die down. Because yesterday was hell for the forestry brigades and air resources that were trying to delimit and put out the fire that has been punishing Castellón and Teruel since last Wednesday.
It was a day to forget. The Minister of Justice, Gabriela Bravo, recognized him. In the morning, Ximo Puig showed his hope that in the afternoon he would have full control of the perimeter. But, as the minister narrated, between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. a change in the direction of the wind, which increased strongly from the west, once again fed the flames and the fire got dangerously close to the town of Montán and forced the evacuation of three other Castellón towns: Torralba del Pinar, Pavías and Higueras. In addition, the threat against the Sierra de Espadán was aggravated. All the alarms went off.
The fire jumped the CV-195 and that meant that the stabilized perimeter since Saturday was exceeded by flames, although the number of hectares burned remained at just over 4,000. Gusts of 50 kilometers per hour, low humidity and high temperatures. A perfect match for disaster, to turn tomorrow’s hope into a nightmare. Immediately, part of the more than 20 aerial means and more than 500 professionals concentrated to prevent the flames from reaching Montán, burning all the houses. They were close. “We have achieved it, no home has been affected,” added Gabriela Bravo. Two more teams from Catalonia were added to the units from the Valencian Community, Aragon, Madrid or Castilla-La Mancha.
In total, one hundred more people joined the 1,700 who since last Friday have not been able to sleep in their homes for safety reasons. They are neighbors of the towns of Fuente de la Reina, Puebla de Arenoso, Montanejos, Montán, Arañuel and Villanueva de Viver, and the districts of Los Calpes, Los Cantos, La Monzona, La Alquería de Montanejos and La Artejuela.
Late in the afternoon, the minister insisted that “our hope is the change in weather conditions.” If it does not improve, today’s scenario could be even worse than yesterday’s. The Valencian regional secretary for Security and Emergencies, José María Ángel, pointed out to this newspaper that “we have several units prepared to prevent the flames from reaching the Sierra de Espadán, it is now an absolute priority to avoid it.” And he added that, until late at night, the weather forecast “warns of high temperatures and gusts of wind from the west of up to 50 km and a humidity of less than 20%; three very unfavorable conditions for the extinction of this sixth generation fire”.
As stated, the day started with optimism and progressed towards poor forecasts. Ximo Puig and Pedro Sánchez, in the morning, were prudent after visiting the affected area, but announced the possibility that the situation would improve. It was not so. The President of the Government transferred the commitment of the Executive of him to rebuild “everything that has been lost and damaged.” In this context, he affirmed that “denialism does not fit, nor can one be neutral before those who are deniers.” “The climate emergency exists, it causes dramas and damages like the ones we are seeing and it is very relevant that we are all committed,” he added.
