Life makes its way little by little in the area affected by the Baldomar fire, in Artesa de Segre, a year ago, where the trees sprout amid charred trunks and the vegetation once again covers part of the 2,700 hectares that were burned. burned It is a slow process and, before it, the affected towns of Baldomar and Clua, belonging to Artesa de Segre and Alòs de Balaguer, are working together on a project to recover the landscape.
One year after the fire, in Baldomar they regret that the different administrations have not carried out any type of action in this regard, nor to fix the roads that were affected. Discontent also among some landscapes that affirm that they have not yet received any type of help.
The 2022 fire generated “discouragement” and “helplessness” in Baldomar, feelings that over the months have turned into “acceptance”. “After the initial shock and disappointment, you accept it and move on, there is no other way,” sums up the president of EMD de Baldomar, Josep Galceran, who admits that the sixty residents have already gotten used to the new landscape left by the flames. .
However, the environment has already begun to change and the greenish tones of the vegetation and the regrowth of the trees are gaining ground in the area, as has the fauna. In fact, Galceran points out that “luckily” the great speed with which the flames advanced caused the flora to “scorch” instead of being completely burned, which meant that part of the roots and some trees were saved and regrowth. .
With the aim of recovering part of the landscape, the nuclei of Clua and Baldomar and the municipality of Alòs de Balaguer have begun to work on a project, with the participation of forestry and landscape engineers, which will be carried out following sustainability criteria. .
At the beginning of July they plan to hold an information day in Baldomar to raise funds and the first actions can be carried out in the fall of 2023. Among other things, they want to prevent the erosion of some ravines and replant trees in the area, as they have already done the primary students of the Planells d’Artesa de Segre school a few months ago.
The president of EMD de Baldomar regrets that in the last year the different administrations have not been involved or carried out any concrete action in the affected area. “There is no response or proposal from the Department, there is money from the Government that still has to be redistributed. We asked the City Council to fix some damage to the roads and signaling and so far nothing has arrived,” explains Galceran, adding that since the fire “nothing has been fixed and we don’t know when it will be fixed.”
Regarding State aid, the Ministry of Territorial Policy published in December 2022 the resolution of the agreement with the Generalitat for the management of 88,000 euros to alleviate the damage from the Baldomar fire, money that has been allocated to repair municipal infrastructure and the road network.
In this way, the farmers have not received any aid to date either, which is why Galceran speaks of a general “discouragement” among the farmers of the town. Despite the fact that the Government promised to compensate the farmers who tilled the fields to avoid the programming of the flames. Some lament that it is the second year in a row that they have lost their harvest. In 2022 it was because of the fire and this year because of the drought.
A year ago the fire began in the center of Baldomar, in Artesa de Segre, in the midst of a heat wave and a drought that favored the rapid programming of the flames. The Firefighters confined Alòs de Balaguer and evacuated 20 residents of the nucleus of La Cua and 54 more who were staying in a camp house in the same town. They also asked farmers in the area to till the fields to create firebreaks. Eight days later, on June 23, 2022, they considered the fire extinguished, which left a final balance of 2,683.21 hectares burned.
