The hope was that once it was night the temperatures would drop and the wind would die down. Because yesterday’s day was hell for the forest brigades and aerial media that tried to delimit and put out the fire that has been punishing Castelló and Teruel since Wednesday. It was a day to forget. This was recognized by the Minister of Justice, Gabriela Bravo. In the morning, Ximo Puig showed his hope to have the perimeter completely under control in the afternoon. But as the councilor narrated, between two and three in the afternoon a change in the direction of the wind, which grew strongly from the west, fueled the flames again and the fire came dangerously close to the town of Montant , until forcing the evacuation of three more towns in Castelló: Torralba del Pinar, Pavies and Figueres. In addition, the threat against the Serra d’Espadà was aggravated. All alarms went off.
The fire jumped CV-195, which meant that the perimeter that was stabilized as of Saturday was overtaken by flames, although the number of burned hectares remained at a little more than 4,000. Gusts of 50 kilometers per hour, low humidity and high temperatures. A perfect combination for disaster, to transform the hope of the morning into a nightmare. Then, part of the more than 20 aerial means and more than 500 professionals concentrated to prevent the flames from reaching Montant and burning all the homes. They got close to it. “We have achieved it, no house has been affected”, added Gabriela Bravo. The units from the Valencian Community, Aragon, Madrid or Castilla-La Mancha were joined by two more teams from Catalonia.
In total, 100 more people were added to the 1,700 who have not been able to sleep in their homes for security reasons since last Friday. They are neighbors of the towns of La Font de la Reina, La Pobla d’Arenós, Montanejos, Montant, Aranyuel and Vilanova de la Reina, and the pedanias of Los Calpes, Los Cantos, La Monzona, l’Alqueria de Montanejos and l’Artejuela .
Late in the afternoon, the councilor insisted that “our hope is the change in weather conditions”. If things don’t improve, the situation today could be even worse than yesterday. The regional Secretary of Security and Emergencies in Valencia, José María Ángel, told this newspaper that “there are several units prepared to prevent the flames from reaching the Sierra d’Espadà, now it is an absolute priority to avoid it”. And he added that, as long as it is not at night, the weather information “warns of high temperatures and gusts of wind from the west of up to 50 km and a humidity of less than 20%; three very unfavorable conditions for the extinction of this sixth generation fire”.
As has been said, the day started with optimism and progressed towards bad prognoses. Ximo Puig and Pedro Sánchez in the morning were cautious after visiting the affected area, but announced the possibility of the situation improving. It wasn’t like that. The President of the Spanish Government conveyed the commitment of his Executive to rebuild “everything that has been lost and damaged”. In this context, he stated that “denialism is not an option, just like not being neutral before the denialists”. “The climate emergency exists, it causes drama and damage, like the ones we live through, and it is very important that we all commit to it,” he added.
