"Many times we said it: 'the day that passes the whole town burns' ... And it has happened. I have seen the flames a few meters from my house. With four babies inside ... No

fear, we feel panic

. This is not We will never forget, we haven't slept all night. At three in the morning I was still helping the firefighters, what was I going to do in bed if I wasn't going to sleep? "

With tears sliding down her cheeks and a look of disbelief, Carmina was walking through the center of Batres on Monday.

When she was just 70 years old, she was given to think that she never left this town south of Madrid because she was "in love" with him.

And seeing it burned, by the impetuous fire that swept 191 hectares on Sunday evening,

breaks "his soul."

Throughout the day today, after

an eternal night suffocating

and securing the area, comings and goings of crews of firefighters roamed the town.

A total of 13 trucks that

went over embers and embers

in order to prevent them from burning again.

But the damage, material, environmental and, above all, emotional, had already been done.

Carmina recalls that running water came to this municipality when she was 25 years old, back in the 60's. Before, they used to go to

El Chorro

, a source where they drank and supplied their homes.

"Right next to it, in the stream, we washed our clothes ... I did not want to go down to see how he is,

some neighbors have come up crying

. I do not dare to go, I only wanted to walk a little," says this veteran, who is be overcome by this bleak panorama.

Chickens and a dog, burned

Especially when talking about a lifelong friend, whose garden was devastated by fire, with which he provided tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to the residents of the town. Although the vegetables were not the only thing that was burned. Something that breaks Carmina, who breaks down crying: "She had

20 or 30 chickens, all burned. And also her dog

, my poor thing, who was blind ... He also burned. It was horrible, really."

Of all the buildings and homes that were unsuccessful, the municipality's old tobacco dryer, currently used as a warehouse, was the most affected.

With the roof down, the walls burned, as well as a small charred tractor that was staying inside, it received dozens of neighbors who undertook a tour of Batres

photographing the wounds of a fire that would take time to heal

.

Snapshots that revealed that what they had before their eyes was not a bad dream.

A firefighter puts out the embers with his hose in the old tobacco dryer.ALBERTO DI LOLLI

The town's parish had more luck. At his feet, a large patio with scorched earth, a sign that the fire had stayed only a meter from the rear facade. "

The church was about to burn

, but thanks to the neighbors we managed to stop the fire with hoses and buckets of water. We were very scared, the houses were very close. Some houses caught fire, and they also treated some residents with problems respiratory problems, but no further personal injury had to be regretted, "Juan Manuel, the village priest, explained to this newspaper.

The strong gusts of wind,

"very changeable" according to the residents

, made the situation unpredictable.

For some it was dramatic to see how the flames besieged their doors.

For others less harsh, seeing how they were moving away, but suffered by having to be evicted imminently.

"My house did not burn down by a miracle"

"At 3:30 p.m. ambulances could be heard. At 4:00 p.m. you could already see the smoke, which was brutal. And at 5:00 p.m. they began to evacuate. You couldn't see anything, just black smoke and flames. My house was not burned by a miracle, because the The wind began to blow towards Serranillos. We were very scared, especially because the authorities did not tell us anything ", evokes José, who had to leave" running "with his wife and son,

although without his two cats

, to his parents' house , in Fuenlabrada: "They did not let us catch anything, not even the animals ... It was a lot of uncertainty. Today we returned at 9.30 in the morning.

We saw flames of more than six meters ... it was tremendous

."

Firefighting crews extinguishing the Batres fire Community of Madrid / EFE

Víctor Manuel López, mayor of Batres, has indicated that the fire originated in the Moral ravine, just behind the town's public school, and currently

Seprona agents are investigating whether it was caused

, interviewing people and inspecting the area. .

"They have told me that there have been two light bulbs ... And it may be normal.

Young people come from other places and make bottles in the countryside.

They leave glass ... Yesterday [Sunday] it was terribly hot, my thermometer read 42 degrees. Who is going to be so bad at causing something like this? Who is going to have a barbecue with those temperatures?

We thought it was fortuitous

, but if it had been cleaner, maybe we would not have come to this ", concludes Carmina.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

See links of interest

  • Last News

  • Work calendar

  • Holidays Madrid

  • Home THE WORLD TODAY

  • Barcelona - Real Sociedad

  • Seville - Rayo Vallecano

  • Stage 3: Santo Domingo de Silos - Espinosa de los Monteros.

    White Picon

  • Villarreal - Granada CF

  • Elche - Athletic Club