The advance of the fire season is also spreading to the north of the country this year. A forest fire discovered in Baleira (Lugo) on Tuesday is the biggest so far this year in Galicia. According to the Ministry of Rural Affairs, 1,100 hectares have already been affected and its extinction is being complicated by the strength of the wind and its changing direction. In the last few hours, Asturias has also detected up to 95 simultaneous outbreaks in 35 municipalities. “Asturias is not burning. They burn it,” has influenced the President of Asturias, Adrián Barbón, via Twitter. The President has labeled those responsible for setting the mountains on fire as “criminals” and “offenders” and warned they will be prosecuted and treated as such. The work is concentrated on the Tineo, Allande and Valdés brandies. The interior of Castellón has been fighting the flames with a high risk forecast due to westerly winds for a week. So far it affects 4,700 hectares of great ecological value and has a circumference of more than 50 kilometers.
Asturias does not burn. YOU BURN IT.
And those responsible are those who burn our mountains. They are criminals, offenders and will be prosecuted and treated as such.
My deepest gratitude to the people working to put out the fires and my support for those affected.— 🌹 Adrian Barbon 💙💛 (@AdrianBarbon) March 30, 2023
The forest fire of Baleira (Lugo) was discovered at 17:00 on Tuesday. It started in Cubilledo and caused real moments of tension due to its proximity to several inhabited centers and the impossibility of shutting down with air means due to the strong gusts of wind. The Xunta adheres to the decreed situation two out of four emergency levels. The danger level was determined by the proximity of the flames to homes in Fórneas. At least four villages were evacuated as a precautionary measure on Wednesday, although some residents were able to return to their homes on Wednesday night.
In Asturias, the Civil Guard expelled around twenty people, according to the Principality of Asturias Emergency Service (SEPA) on Thursday. The mayor of Valdés, Óscar Pérez, assured this Thursday that after a difficult night they “are already allowed to return to their homes”. “Right now the most important thing is that there is no personal injury to be regretted,” the city council stressed after arguing that no city on the council is currently affected by the fires, but the strong gusts of wind “could cause it to be threatened populations exist”. The evictions were carried out in the towns of Aristobano and Caborno in the Valdés Municipal Council and come to the preventive evacuation of an elderly woman in La Vallina (Llanes), two other people in Llaneces (Allande) and the only resident of the farmhouse Coucellín (Tineo).
inside #IFCbilleroBaleirain Lugo, work was done on the rear – left flank of the forest fire by a direct attack with the support of fire engines 🚒 and laying hoses
— UME (@UMEGob) March 30, 2023
The extinguishing work is concentrated in the western zone, on the Tineo, Allande and Valdés fires, where they carried out the evacuation while the fire affected various buildings. The Advanced Command Post is established in the city of Navelgas (Tineo). The fires are located in the municipalities of Allande, Aller, Amieva, Belmonte de Miranda, Boal, Cabrales, Cangas de Onís, Cangas del Narcea, Caso, Grado, Ibias, Langreo, Laviana, Lena, Llanera, Llanes, Mieres, Nava, Onís , Parres, Piloña, Ponga, Pravia, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa, Santo Adriano, Sobrescobio, Somiedo, Teverga, Tineo, Valdés, Villaviciosa, Villayón and Yernes and Tameza.
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The firefighting effort, involving more than 500 soldiers, was hampered yesterday by strong gusts of wind and high temperatures, adverse conditions expected to continue this Thursday. The military emergency unit moved from its base in León to Tineo yesterday with a total of 95 soldiers and 40 vehicles. The Asturias Firefighters, the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigade, also work in the field.
High risk in Castellón
As for the fire in Castellón, the forecast for this Thursday and Friday is high risk. “Changes in the wind regime (gusts of more than 70 kilometers per hour and humidity below 20%) can produce regrowth with a chimney effect that can reach rapid spread and large columns of smoke that would reach very high heights,” reports the Generalitat Valenciana Emergencies Service . Around 300 ground troops and 17 aircraft are involved in this fire, which affects 4,700 hectares of great ecological value and has a perimeter of more than 50 kilometers. 200 residents have already been relocated to their homes and Guardia Civil controls are maintained at four entrances: Villanueva de Viver (exclusive access via CV207 from Barracas), Puebla de Arenoso and its districts of Los Cantos and La Monzona (access CV 20 from Orba to Teruel), Higueras (Caudiel’s CV203 approach) and Pavías (Caudiel’s CV203 approach).