• Castellón The "human factor", probable cause of the fire that has already burned 4,000 hectares

After razing 4,000 hectares in just one day, good weather conditions have helped this Saturday to contain the fire in Villanueva de Viver, in the province of Castellón. The state of the terrain, quite humid, and the absence of wind have been decisive to stop the advance of the flames, so they have not reached the CV-195 road that connects Montán and Montanejos, one of the biggest risks that worried the authorities.

This has been pointed out in a first assessment of the night of Friday to Saturday the regional secretary of Security and Emergencies of the Generalitat, José María Ángel, who stressed that the "best ally" of the firefighting personnel has been this time the weather, adverse precisely since last Thursday in the area. Even so, up to eight municipalities remain evicted, bringing the total number of evacuated residents to 1,500.

According to the Minister of Justice, Gabriela Bravo, it is most likely that the evicted could not return to their homes in 48 hours, so they remain in two shelters located in the municipal sports center of Segorbe and in Onda. The municipalities and districts of Los Calpes, Fuente la Reina, Los Cantos-La Monzona, Puebla de Arenoso, Montanejos, Arañuel, Montán and Villanueva de Viver are affected.

For this Saturday, the performance of a score of air means and 500 troops in total working in the fight against the fire in this area of Alto Mijares is expected, where late this Friday the fire surprised again advancing faster than expected. Despite this, it managed to contain itself in a perimeter of 40 kilometers.

Hence, according to Angel, the balance of the night has been "optimal", having achieved the two objectives that the authorities had set themselves from the Advanced Command Post (PMA): that the perimeter, the flames and the footprint of the fire did not advance and that it did not reach the CV-195 between Montón and Montanejos.

In the tasks of extinction participate means of different administrations, including the Firefighters of Diputación de Castellón, the firefighters of the Provincial Consortia of Alicante and Valencia, of the City Council of Castellón and Valencia, forest firefighters of the Generalitat, the Government of Aragon and BRIF of the Ministry.

In addition, this Saturday the WFP will receive the joint visit of the presidents of the Valencian and Aragonese governments, Ximo Puig and Javier Lambán, respectively.

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  • Castellón (Spain)
  • Valence
  • Javier Lambán
  • Aragon
  • Ximo Puig
  • Fire