The fire declared this Sunday afternoon in the Serra Ferrer, between Tàrbena (Marina Baixa) and Xaló (Marina Alta) remains uncontrolled. The latest update from the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat Valenciana notifies that some homes scattered around the area have been evacuated and that the Red Cross has been requested to set up a shelter for the affected people of Tàrbena. There is no official confirmation of how many people could spend the night in said hostel, although À Punt anticipates that there would already be more than 50 people.
The Minister of the Interior, Elisa Núñez, explained that the Generalitat Valenciana has decreed a level 2 emergency situation due to “the high temperatures, the orography of the area and because there is a large amount of accumulated forest mass”, a situation of which has blamed the previous government. “It seems that the management of the previous Government has not been as expected, it has been quite negligent, and the fire has spread like a powder keg, which was expected,” Núñez declared.
Likewise, the Civil Traffic Guard has closed the CV-715 highway towards the fire area, from Parcent to the north and from Bolulla to the south. The evolution of the fire has forced us to move to level 2 of the Special Plan for Forest Fires and, as confirmed by the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, and at the request of the Generalitat Valenciana, the Executive has activated the UME and has assigned two FOCA of the Ministry of Ecological Transition to confront the fire.
Working to extinguish the fire are 10 teams from the Provincial Firefighters Consortium, 7 units of Forest Firefighters, 6 aerial means and two FOCAs that have been requested from the Ministry. In addition, the Advanced Command Post and SATCOM, mobile units of the Valencian Security and Emergency Response Agency, have been mobilized.
The one in Tàrbena is the second fire in less than 24 hours in the province of Alicante. Yesterday, also in the Marina, a fire broke out in the Barranco de la Hiedra, affecting the towns of Xàbia, Gata de Gorgos and Dénia. The nearly 100 people evacuated since the afternoon have been able to return to their homes since this Sunday noon, after the firefighters have checked the area and the fire has been considered stabilized after eight in the morning.
According to the State Meteorological Agency in the Valencian Community, today was a day with low risk of forest fire. However, he explains that the temperatures have been very high in the Tàrbena forest fire area for it to be the middle of April. Up to 26 degrees have been recorded. In addition, he adds that there have been gusts of between 20 and 30 km/h that will continue in this direction until the night, although they are “weakening.”
The update of the AEMET forecast for tomorrow, Monday, leaves a day of high risk throughout the Valencian territory.
