A forest fire in El Valle burns 9 hectares and puts residents on alert | La Verdad

Fire stole the limelight on Thursday afternoon from the peace and quiet of the siesta time on the first day of August. A large column of smoke alerted hundreds of residents of Murcia who notified the 112 Emergency Coordination Centre of the Region of Murcia early in the afternoon. Specifically, shortly after a quarter past five in the afternoon, more than two hundred calls had already been registered from different points of the municipality about a forest fire that started in the area of ​​Sequén, in El Valle, in the Murcian district of La Alberca.

Twenty-one firefighters from the Murcia City Council were dispatched to the scene in five vehicles, working in the area to control the flames, as well as forestry brigades, environmental agents, a rapid response brigade and three helicopters from the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies. Three units of the Local Police and members of the Civil Guard also joined the operation. The number of professionals working to try to stop the fire as soon as possible exceeded 140 members, according to the balance provided by the Ministry of the Presidency.

By late afternoon, the area affected by the flames was around nine hectares, according to the 112 Emergency Coordination Centre. For his part, Fulgencio Perona, Deputy Mayor for Citizen Security and Emergencies of the Murcia City Council, made it clear that the fire was “evolving well” and would allow it to be controlled throughout the day if there was no sudden change in wind, the greatest risk in this type of battle. This was not the case. At 9:09 p.m. the fire was declared stabilized and at 12:16 a.m. it was declared under control. Extinguishing work continued throughout the night to finally put out the last remains of the fire and cool the affected area, made up of scrub and pine forest.

This is not the first time that the people of Murcia have held their breath in the face of the threat of flames to their green lung. In August of last year, a major fire was recorded in El Valle. It was the first in several decades and mobilised dozens of firefighters who acted quickly and managed to control it, so that the flames devoured the area equivalent to two football fields (about two hectares), and not the more than 15 that could have been destroyed due to the weather conditions at the time, according to the technicians’ calculations. The Environmental Crimes Investigation Brigade found evidence that this fire was intentional.

Extreme risk

This is the second forest fire that has broken out in the region in just over 24 hours and that the emergency services have had to deal with after the fire that broke out on Wednesday at around three in the afternoon in the Majallana area of ​​the Lorca district of Purias, in the foothills of the Almenara mountain range. As a precaution, the three inhabitants of a house close to the fire area were evacuated, although, according to information provided by 112, no neighbours have suffered damage and the flames have not spread to the houses. The forest fire was stabilised at 4:24 p.m. after destroying just over 2,000 square metres of scrubland.

The risk level of forest fires that the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) predicted for this Thursday was “extreme” throughout the Region, except for the coast, where it was very high, according to sources from the Emergency Coordination Centre. With extreme risk, the management of the Infomur Plan, to fight forest fires in the Region of Murcia, reminds that it is prohibited to make fires in the mountains or within 400 metres of forest land. Likewise, all activities that could cause a fire or help it spread should be avoided.