In Spain, the first major fire of the early year, against the backdrop of a prolonged drought

All the conditions for starting a gigantic fire were met: unusual temperature for the season, exceeding 25 ° C, approaching 30 ° C, very dry vegetation, lack of heavy and prolonged rain, air humidity below 30. %, and strong winds, 30 km/h. Thursday March 23, three days into spring, Spain’s first major fire of the season broke out locally in the Valencia region in the east of the kingdom, forcing authorities to evacuate eight municipalities, meaning nearly 1,800 people.

On Sunday afternoon, a provisional report showed that 3,900 hectares of forest had been burned by fire in an area full of pine forests and shrubs, near the magnificent natural pools of Fuentes de Baños, not far from the Sierra de Espadan Natural Park. After a lull on Saturday, fears of the fire resuming out of control kept officials on alert throughout the day on Sunday, with temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius, less than 20% humidity and strong winds blowing from the west at 50 km/h. In the evening, nearly 500 firefighters and 20 bombers continued to battle the blaze, which was within a radius of 40 kilometers.

Pending official confirmation, the fire appears to have been started by sparks from a municipal brushcutter in use in the village of Villanueva de Vivar, in the province of Castellón, on the border between the Aragon and Valencia regions. Four people were questioned by the gendarmerie on Saturday. Beyond the human factor, however, these early fires above all illustrate the weakness of Spain approaching the “season of fire” while the country is experiencing its longest drought since 1970. “These fires are further evidence of the climate emergency humanity is experiencing, far too early.”, March 24 Pedro Sánchez, head of the Spanish government, was due to visit the scene on Monday. A sense of helplessness in his voice, Castellone’s firefighters spokesman made a similar observation: ” We are facing a summertime fire…”

In the province of Castellón, the equivalent of two days of rain have fallen in the past four months, seven times less than “normal” values, according to José Guerreda, climate lecturer at Jam-I University. . This drought is exacerbated by the abandonment of rural areas in Spain’s interior, which favors the accumulation of large amounts of dead wood and other “vegetable fuel” in forests. conditions found in many regions of the country.

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