Active and uncontrolled, this is how the two serious fires continue in the Valencian community: badges (Castellon) and Val d’Ebo (Alicante) which is joined by a new one in the Puça game in Petrer.
The fire has already burned out 21,000 hectares of area and forced exodus of 3,000 peopleas well as to disruption of the eleventh highway. Likewise, the first rainfall has reached the affected area in Alicante, where Aemet warns that “severe” weather events may occur.
the fire of Val d’Ebo (Alicante) has already burned 11,500 hectares, according to the latest estimate of the area affected, while there were no new evictions or damage to homes overnight.
[El incendio de la Vall d’Ebo obliga a evacuar Benimassot: 22 medios aéreos siguen trabajando en su extinción]
As a result of this fire declared last Saturday, on the extinguishing of which 20 air assets are working, several 1500 people from Famorca, Facheca, Tollos, Beniaia, Benimassotbuildings in the areas of Garrotxa, Benirrama and Beniali (Vall de Gallinera), in addition to 10 buildings in Castell de Castells.
They started this afternoon precipitation in the form of hail and water to fall in the area of the fire, which forced all air assets to withdraw to their respective bases. Firefighters from the Diputación de Alicante report that the water will cause temperatures to drop “which helps the work of extinguishing”.
Badges fire
The forest fire that started in Bejís (Castellón) has arrived this Wednesday in the province of Valenciawhere it affects the city of Alkublas and according to preliminary calculations it has already burned down 9900 hectares.
About 1,500 people were evacuated from the municipalities Thoras, Bays, Sakanet and Teresa and closed the fire town of Weaver, in which 25 air assets are working this Wednesday.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlasca, who went to the Extended Command Center (PMA) of the fire in Bejis, trusted that a slight improvement in the weather in the area could make it go beyond the protective work that has been developed so far for these of fire attack.
Meteorological forecast
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has activated the yellow level warning for this afternoon in the Valencia region, excluding the south of Alicante, from storms that can accumulate 20 liters per square meter in an hour and be accompanied by hail and possible strong or very strong wind gusts from the north along the coast.
He also warns that in the next few hours, in the area of the Vall d’Ebo fire “scattered storms, not very organized, but with generating potential severe phenomena”.
(18:45) ?️? Images taken at this very moment in #LDC on #IFValldEbo.
It is raining in the area of the fire. pic.twitter.com/tpJcg3mVS4
— Urgent 112CV (@GVA112) August 17, 2022
Bejís train accident
Six of the people who were injured after leaving a medium-distance train that had stopped due to the fire in Bejís (Castellón) remain hospitalized, five of them with burns at La Fe Hospitalof which three are serious and the sixth in the General de València.
[Varios pasajeros con quemaduras graves al huir de un tren en llamas en el incendio de Bejís (Castellón)]
The accident occurred when, in the presence of smoke, the driver decides to return the train in the direction of departure and during the maneuver a group of passengers open the doorsbroke windows and got out of the train where they were engulfed in flames.
Generalitat President Ximo Puig indicated that this incident “has already been prosecuted and therefore the judicial police will act accordingly”.
In addition, the journey between the Jérica (Castellón) and Sarrión (Teruel) stations of the medium-distance trains that connect València Nord and Zaragoza-Miraflores takes place this Wednesday by road to avoid the Bejís fire area.
closed roads
Evacuees from the forest fire in Bejís (Castellón) moved to the multipurpose pavilion of the nearby town, Live, they have lived the experience with fear, very nervous and sad about what they had to leave, but also grateful to be okay and for the care they received.
totaland eleven roads remain closed this Wednesday due to the forest fires in Vall d’Ebo (Alicante) and Bejís (Castellón), according to the Ministry of Public Works.
In the middle of the afternoon a a new fire in Petrer municipality (Alicante), in which a dozen people have been evicted from a camp, and air and ground forces are working to destroy it.