A fire on the border of Burgos with Cantabria burns more than 200 hectares in the high mountains

A fire that broke out since the end of last week has burned more than 200 hectares in the north of Burgos, on the border with Cantabria. The flames, according to residents in this mountainous area, began in the Espinosa de los Monteros mountain (Burgos) on Friday and gained strength starting on Sunday, when the fire ended up being declared level 1 of danger out of a maximum of 3. Firefighters are having difficulties extinguishing the fire in spaces that are difficult to access due to the terrain, so only aerial means can act. Castilla y León and Cantabria have mobilized their troops to try to extinguish it, to which those of the Ministry of Ecological Transition have joined.

The flames have been reducing their impact in the southern area of ​​the Burgos mountain, in the areas of Estacas de Trueba, while on the northern side, the Pico de la Miel (Cantabria), the outbreaks are still active and firefighters are having difficulty tackling them. . The territorial delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Burgos, Roberto Saiz, considers that the southern section of the fire has been “stabilized”, but emphasizes that on Cantabrian soil it is still “very active”. The government of Cantabria has mobilized a helicopter and ground resources. Pablo Palencia, Cantabrian Environment Minister, has highlighted the complexity of the task: “It is an inaccessible area and it is taking a long time to control the flames that are affecting both the south and north sides of the valley.”

Cantabria maintains alert level 2 for forest fires in 8 of its 13 forest regions: Liébana Occidental, Liébana Oriental, Nansa, Cabuérniga, Besaya, Pas, Pisueña-Miera and Asón.

Despite the current winter season, the high temperatures of these weeks and the lack of rainfall favor the expansion of the flames, especially in low forest areas such as those affected between Burgos and Cantabria.

Diego de la Iglesia, a neighbor who lives near the fire, explains that the first sparks began last Wednesday night, January 31, as evidenced by a web camera from a nearby rural house. That day the sky was clear and there was no storm. “The fire was very strong for the first two days, but then there was a big stop, you could see just a trickle of smoke and then on Saturday afternoon it revived again,” he points out, showing photographs of the evolution of the flames.

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