The fire declared this Saturday on the Camino Viejo de Gata, near Barranco de la Hiedra de Xàbia (Alicante), is now stabilized. This was reported this Sunday by the Emergency Services of the Generalitat Valenciana after the checks carried out by Firefighters from the Alicante Provincial Council. Yesterday afternoon, Emergencies had announced that the fire was evolving “favorably” and that the amount of smoke had decreased “considerably.”
In an intervention made yesterday by the fire officer of the Alicante Provincial Firefighters Consortium and director of the Advanced Command Post (PMA), Alan Clemente, he assured that the origin of the fire was “presumably in an uncontrolled agricultural burning.” The fire risk for yesterday was low-medium, but Clemente pointed out that there is “a lot of irresponsible behavior; that is, when a controlled burn is carried out, the user must establish minimum safety measures: make a perimeter, have a certain amount of water per If the fire goes out…”, he highlighted.
Yesterday afternoon about a hundred people were evicted “as a precaution”: ten homes in the municipality of Xàbia, with about 48 people, and another 25 in the municipality of Gata de Gorgos, with around 50 people. “These are not complete developments, but individual houses that are arranged in a very uneven manner,” he said. This Sunday noon they have been authorized to return to their homes after the review of the affected perimeter by the Local Police and firefighters.
The fire had started around 11:00 a.m. this Saturday in an area located between the towns of Xàbia and Gata, which caused traffic to be interrupted on the road that connects both towns. It also affected land in the municipality of Jesús Pobre, according to the Dénia City Council.
For its part, the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat activated situation 1 of the Special Plan Against the Risk of Forest Fires (PEIF) due to its proximity to non-forestry assets, homes and the CV-734 highway. In fact, Clemente confirmed that “a couple” of abandoned homes had burned, but that no one was injured.
On the other hand, the director of the Advanced Command Post (PMA) also explained that the fire had developed in two outbreaks and that a “chimney effect” had occurred that caused the fire to spread “very quickly.” In this way, an “automatic dispatch was activated, consisting of an aircraft and more extinguishing means”, with “sufficient” means to prevent the flames from affecting the forest area.
“If we had neglected the troops, right now, the Montgó natural park would be on fire,” he said. The fire did not enter the natural area.
All the troops deployed in extinction tasks have been working throughout the night, as well as their replacements. Two air vehicles are currently working in the area.
