Despite the fact that it is very early, the Emergency Service of the Valencian Community had warned of the danger. High temperatures, a very dry territory and the westerly wind were the ideal breeding ground for what happened to happen: a huge fire that continued to devour hectares of forest between the provinces of Castelló and Teruel as of late yesterday.
In the evening, tall and thick columns of smoke prevented the action of displaced air means. The fire had crossed a deep ravine that was difficult for ground vehicles to access. A complicated situation that advised focusing the efforts of the Fire Department on safeguarding the natural park of the Sierra d’Espadà.
As for the origin of the disaster, the hypothesis being studied is an untimely agricultural burning, although it will be necessary to wait for its conclusion to certify this with certainty.
The fire was declared on Thursday in the Castellon town of Vilanova de la Reina, and had burnt more than 4,000 hectares of surface in a perimeter of 40 kilometers by late evening this Friday.
The Valencian Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, from the Advanced Command station, located in Barraques, explained that the fire is divided into three sectors and the one that worries the most is the one on the right flank, which was advancing towards the towns of Montanejos and Montant and “could put at risk at a certain moment the serra d’Espadà”, which was not yet affected. Most of the 1,500 evicted people were resettled in the Sogorb and Onda hostels, and the 73 users of the Montant seniors’ residence, in other centers in the province and in Valencia. Throughout the day, firefighters from the provincial consortia of Valencia and Alicante and the town councils of Castelló and Valencia were added to the extinguishing tasks, adding up to more than 500 people working on the ground.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition sent five more aircraft and three brigades. Its owner, Teresa Ribera, warned of how “unusual” and, “unfortunately”, increasingly “more frequent” it is to have fires “out of season”. Speaking to journalists during a visit to the La Almoraima estate, in Castellar (Cádiz), he warned that summer “is getting longer and earlier”, and the availability of water and moisture on the ground “unfortunately shortens, which makes the country “much more vulnerable”.
28 professionals, 8 light vehicles and a firefighting helicopter also arrived from Murcia.
