prudence The word was pronounced yesterday afternoon by those responsible for the emergency teams of the Valencian Community and Aragon. And also the presidents of the two autonomies, Ximo Puig and Javier Lambán, who met at the Command Point. Prudence, because although it had been possible to contain the perimeter of the fire affecting Castelló and Teruel, and the evolution in some points was already “positive”, the scenario could change for the worse. With the enormous effort of more than 600 active firefighters and forestry workers and eighteen aerial units, who worked hard to create safety corridors, it had been possible to prevent the flames from gaining ground. The weather conditions of Saturday morning and yesterday helped, and a lot, because there was no west wind. But the “voraciousness” of the fire, in the words of Ximo Puig, and the continuous changes in the direction of the wind, could complicate everything. Caution, they repeated.
At the close of this edition, the fire had ravaged around 4,000 hectares, which is equivalent to an area of ??around 40 square kilometres. The autonomous secretary of Security and Emergencies of the Generalitat Valenciana, José María Ángel, commented to this newspaper that “work and time have given us a break and there are areas that are beginning to have an optimal shape; the general evolution is positive”. But he added that the arrival of night could change the direction of the wind, and that the biggest concern was, at nightfall, that the flames would reach the Serra d’Espadà through the municipality of Montanejos. “We are prepared to face the situation if the scenario worsens”, he added. He also emphasized that, until now, no natural site in Castelló or the Valencian Community had been affected.
Ximo Puig and Javier Lambán described as “voracious” the action of a fire that since Thursday had been fueled by weather conditions typical of summer, with high temperatures and a westerly wind. The Aragonese president also showed his concern about the extent of the flames in his region. In any case, the ban on returning to their homes was maintained throughout the day for the 1,500 inhabitants of different towns in the affected area, 250 of which from the Aragon area. Some of those welcomed by the Sogorb City Council acknowledged their “anxiety” to return home, but also their “understanding” to avoid a greater evil. It was likely that within the next few hours they would be able to begin their return home.
Javier Lambán commented that “we are not used to this type of 6.0 fires, which at a given moment become absolutely uncontrollable, and we are even less used to them taking place in the month of March”. Human resources from the Valencian Community, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and the Military Emergency Unit (UME) were activated yesterday to fight the flames.
At the same time, the Civil Guard took statements from four people for their alleged relationship with the origin of the fire, as explained by the Government representative for the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé.
The delegate pointed out that the “human factor” in the origin of this fire can be confirmed, since, apparently, the flames started due to the tasks of some operators who were doing “maintenance work” in the forest in the area, although he refused to confirm whether they were workers from municipal brigades of the Vilanova de la Reina City Council, as had been reported in various media, which pointed out that the workers went to trust.
