The heat wave let its last effects be felt, but the situation of the fires still worrying, especially that of the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora), where unlike what happens in more than 90 % of forest fires, it did not originate in the hand of man but in lightning strikes in a dry storm that have caused several fire starter bulbs that have necessitated the intervention of the Military Emergency Unit (EMU).
The fire has already charred nearly 20,000 hectaresmostly from forest area covered with pine trees, scrubland and scrubhas informed the Ministry of the Environment of the Junta de Castilla y León.
Although the fire was less virulent and during the night the height of the flames was reducedfollowed the direct attack on the different foci of the Sierra de la Culebra reserve, a fire that it is expected to remain active for the next twelve hourshas indicated for its part the Ministry of Defense.
The night of fighting the fire was hard and intense work, with the incorporation of aerial means of extinction first thing in the morning and, although the fire was still active, it was less virulent.
Hello. It has been a hard night and intense work in #IFSierraDeLaCulebra 🔥, which is still active and at LEVEL 2
👉 The fire at this time presents less virulence and the height of the flames has decreased in some areas. We keep working 💪 pic.twitter.com/nenlOSTCA1
– Nature Castilla y León (@naturalezacyl) June 18, 2022
The evicted neighbors begin to return
On the other hand, already the residents of seven of the 14 evicted towns have been able to return to their homes these days. They are those who live in the population centers located further south of the area affected by the fire.
the neighbors of seven of those villages Zamora woke up this morning to the sound of emergency sirensalthough surely many of them have not been able to sleep a wink for fear of fire.
The fire in the Sierra de la Culebra continues to advance and “eating” land to Zamora’s nature. This meant that six towns near the area were preventively evacuated at dawn.
This is the case of Cabañas de Aliste, Pelazuelo de las Cuevas, Torres de Aliste, Pobladura de Aliste, Mahide, San Pedro de las Herrerías and to which the town of Boya has recently been added. All the neighbors have been transferred to safe places by instructions from the Civil Guard, Civil Protection and firefighting teams.
At mid-morning he joined Villardeciervos, the eighth town evacuated. The neighbors have been transferred to Camarzana de Tera, except the users of the residence for the elderly, who have been transferred to a center in La Bañeza, in the province of León.
The preventive eviction of Villardeciervos is even more complicated, since previously evacuated residents of Mahíde and San Pedro de las Herrerías had been relocated to the pavilion of Villa Cervata, who now have to be transferred to Camarzana together with the residents of Villardeciervos themselves. . Also, the pavilion lost power.
The wind plays against the means of extinction, and has even caused outbreaks that were previously controlled to revive, as has happened in Sarracín de Aliste. In addition, the wind spreads the smoke with ash, which is a risk to the health of populationsone more reason that has led to the decision to evacuate them.
The troops have mobilized the population before the gusts of wind and the presence in the urban area of smoke with ash, which put the health of the residents of these towns at serious risk.
distressing moments
Nobody expects something like this. At 05:00 am, Teresa Romero, a neighbor of Mahide, woke up to the loud sound of sirens, “At first I thought I was dreaming“, she tells us. “We have experienced distressing moments, there are many elderly people here and they have had a very bad time, they told us that we had to leave the town quickly,” says this Zamoran, who, scared, has left her town behind under a “red sky that lit up everything.
Hell
The Sierra de la Culebra experienced a real hell in a day with several forest fires that have destroyed a large area of hectares, most of it forestbetween Riofrío and Ferreras de Arriba, also affecting areas of Ferreras de Abajo, Cabañas de Aliste, Tábara and Litos, among other localities.
Related news
Ferreras de Arriba is the town that got the worst of it, and where all the means of extinction were concentrated yesterday afternoon to try to safeguard the safety of the town.
When the flames began to be seen from the urban area, still some distance away, the neighbors came out of their houses and watched with concern as “the chestnut trees planted by our great-grandparents are burning”. The smoke could be smelled throughout the town, but more and more aerial and ground resources arrived to contain the advance of the flames.