Large forest fire in eastern Spain
Around 850 people have been evacuated to safety as a precautionary measure due to a major forest fire in eastern Spain. The flames that broke out the previous day in Montichelvo in the Valencia region had already engulfed around 2,000 hectares of nature within around 24 hours, the regional head of government Carlos Mazón told journalists on Friday. "However, no people have been harmed so far", the politician emphasized.
According to official information, the fire on the Costa Blanca was fought by more than 200 firefighters and military personnel on Friday. The firefighting work was still being hampered by the strong and changing winds, the fire department announced on the X platform (formerly Twitter). This is making the use of aircraft and helicopters more difficult, they said. Several country roads had to be closed. The cause of the fire remains unknown for the time being.
Forest fires in November are rather rare in Spain. This year, according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), various fires in the popular vacation destination have affected almost 90,000 hectares of nature, especially in summer. This is a relatively low number compared to last year: in 2022, Spain experienced the most devastating year for forest fires since EFFIS began recording them, when almost 500 major fires damaged an area of over 306,000 hectares. That is over 3000 square kilometers. For comparison: Saarland has an area of just under 2570 square kilometers.
The forest fire in Montichelvo, a town in the Valencia region, has resulted in the evacuation of approximately 850 people due to emergencies. Despite the large size of the fire, which has burned over 2,000 hectares in just 24 hours, no casualties have been reported thus far.
Source: www.dpa.com
