The Jarilla fire has been stabilized after eleven days of activity in which it has calcined about 17,300 hectares within a perimeter of 170 kilometers. The Board of Extremadura has confirmed that from this afternoon the operability will be reduced to level 1, which will allow the replication of the external media.
The Minister of the Presidency, Abel Bautista, said Friday about the evolution of fire after the last Cecopi coordination meeting at the Granja Advanced Command Post (Cáceres).
Although the fire is perimeter, some hot points still persist in the northwest zone. To stop them, six aerial media work today and more than 200 troops on land, after a “something complicated” night but in which it was possible to contain the progress of the flames.
The operational situation will descend at level 1 at 6:00 p.m., at which time the withdrawal of external media will begin, including the Emergency Military Unit (UME) and the German contingent, which have collaborated in the extinction work. From then on, it will be the Forest Fire Fight Plan of Extremadura (INFOEX) that maintains control over the device.
An aircraft of the Civil Guard air service surveys the area affected by the fire to obtain aerial images that allow to verify the real extinction of the outbreaks and detect possible reactivations or the appearance of new points of fire.
From 5:00 p.m., the residents of the peri -urban area of Hervás can return to their homes, while residents in isolated houses of Jerte, Tornavacas, Cabezuela del Valle and Navaconcejo have already started the return.
In addition, from 9:00 p.m. the port of Honduras and the Iryda road will be reopened to traffic.
In Plasencia, La Bombonera, which during the last days became the main reception center for the evicted, has begun to empty. Volunteering and emergency personnel already collect stretchers and blankets in a picture that transmits hope: fire has been contained and the situation begins gradually to normalize.
Causes
The main hypothesis that researchers shuffle is that the fire originated from lightning. What has made the difference with respect to other fires have been the extreme conditions of the last days: temperatures greater than 40 degrees, wind gusts of up to 50 kilometers per hour and a relative humidity that at some times fell to 10-15%. Some values of a semi -desert climate that, added to abundant vegetation, have made their extinction “absolutely difficult”.
Thanks
The counselor wanted to thank the effort of all the troops who have participated in the fight against the flames, highlighting that it has worked “in a consensual way, as if they were a single body, hand in hand and as a single logistics group.”
Almost 500 troops from the Board of Extremadura, the Provincial Councils, the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Civil Protection, Red Cross, Civil Guard, 112, as well as teams of six autonomous communities and countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia – through the European Civil Protection mechanism – have participated in the extinction of the fire. This is the greatest deployment of media in the recent history of Extremadura for a single fire, which they have faced “as if it were their home, their own land.”
The advisor Abel Bautista has expressed his recognition “to the heroes of the Infoex” and the UME “for his generosity and for making available all means at all times.” He also thanked the work of the deputations of Cáceres and Badajoz, Civil Protection, the Civil Guard, the teams of psychologists and social workers, the Red Cross, the SES, the mayors, the staff of the 112, the local groupings of volunteering, the autonomous communities that lent reinforcements, the ministry and the delegate of the government.
“We are not aware of what has been achieved: we have not had to regret any victim, the evacuations have been carried out with absolute peace of mind, with prevention and in advance; the confinements have worked and the population has followed all the indications. I also want to highlight the infinite patience of the Civil Guard and the effort of the City Council of Plasencia, which made all its operation available to welcome the evacuated. aware of what was achieved.
