Fires in Madrid and Ávila burn 15,000 hectares and leave more than 60,000 evacuated or confined
The Spanish government declares national emergency at Ayuso's request and asks for help from Europe
Extreme situation due to fires in the Community of Madrid, which have already burned more than 6,000 hectares, and in the province of Ávila, in Castilla y León, have ravaged 9,000 hectares. For this latter fire, the Civil Guard has arrested one person and is investigating another for allegedly starting it. Between the two fires, a total of 63,000 people are affected, including evacuated and confined.
The severity of these fires led the Spanish government to declare a national emergency on Thursday night, thus taking over the coordination of firefighting efforts. This decision was made at the request of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who stated that it is the "worst" fire in the Community's history. Furthermore, this Friday, the state executive has requested help from Europe by asking for four planes to tackle the emergency.
In the Community of Madrid, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated due to three fires in the southwest of the region, which joined into one during the morning. The fires originated in Villa del Prado, affecting Aldea del Fresno; in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, affecting Pelayos de la Presa; and in Almorox (Toledo). The authorities have sent two ES-Alert messages requesting the evacuation or confinement of different towns.
In Ávila, the fire that broke out on Wednesday in Burgohondo has forced the evacuation of 1,500 people in a rural tourism complex and a housing development in the municipality of El Tiemblo. During the day, there were fears that this fire would merge with the one in Madrid, but for now "they are keeping their distance," according to the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco.
The fire in Madrid, "beyond firefighting capacity"
The Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Interior of the Community of Madrid, Carlos Novillo, has warned of the complexity of the extinction work due to strong gusts of wind, which exceed 50-60 kilometers per hour: "This fire is currently beyond our extinction capacity," he said. However, he assured that the regional government maintains deployed "the largest operation in its history".
After attending to the request for help from the Community of Madrid, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, presided this morning at Moncloa a meeting of the State Committee for Coordination and Direction of the State Emergency Plan (CECOD) to assess the evolution of the fires. A meeting in which the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, also participated remotely.
As a consequence of the declaration of national emergency, Minister Marlaska has assumed the direction and coordination of the necessary actions in the face of the referred fires and the management of all state, autonomous, and local resources that must be used in these two communities. Sources from the Interior have explained that the decision was adopted "due to the concurrence of these fires, together with particularly adverse meteorological conditions and the need to mobilize a significant volume of resources from different public administrations, factors that have increased the complexity of the extinction and civil protection tasks".
The European Commission, open to sending more resources
The operational management of the emergency has been assigned to the head of the Military Emergencies Unit (UME). At the request of this unit, the Spanish government has activated the European response mechanism and has requested at least four aerial firefighting assets. According to executive sources, Greece has already offered two aircraft and Brussels has confirmed that, in addition to the two Greek planes, two aerial assets from Italy have also been sent to Spain. The European Commission has also stressed that they maintain "close contact" with the Spanish authorities regarding the evolution of the fires and has shown itself open to sending more resources.
Ayuso's government has mobilized nine interurban buses to collaborate with evacuation and transfer tasks and has reported that it maintains permanent monitoring of the situation in residences and social care centers located in the areas affected by the fires. It also indicated that the Madrilenian Health Service (Sermas) has at least six hundred hospital beds available.
In Castile and León, on the other hand, there are ten active forest fires, but several have evolved favorably and the severity level has been lowered. Nevertheless, the authorities have expressed concern about the fire in Burgohondo (Ávila), which is advancing virulently. This fire, which broke out last Wednesday, has forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. Furthermore, the flames have entered the Valle de Iruelas Natural Reserve, one of the most unique areas in the province and home to one of Europe's main black vulture colonies.