Nearly 2,000 evacuated due to a fire at a campsite in El Vendrell: "We haven't heard any alarms."

El Vendrell / BarcelonaFirefighters responded this morning to a spectacular fire at a campsite in El Vendrell, a busy holiday destination in the middle of the peak holiday season. The blaze broke out just after 3:00 a.m. for reasons still under investigation and started in a burning caravan. The only casualty was a dog, Mia, who began barking before dying, allowing her family to escape the caravan. "Mia has saved many lives," her owner explained dejectedly this afternoon. Just as everyone was out, the roof collapsed, trapping the dog.

The column of fire and the cloud of smoke were spectacular, as the fire spread to other caravans and part of the campsite, forcing the entire campsite to be evacuated: some 1,700 people were on the premises at the time. More than half an hour after the campsite was evacuated, a second, less serious fire broke out at another end of the Vendrell Platja campsite.

"At the time the first fire started I was sleeping, but my friend wasn't because he had jet lag and he was the one who woke me up. From there, we notified my parents and headed for the exit, alerting everyone about the fire," Miquel Moyano, who is staying three plots away from where the fire started, explained to ARA. According to this Sabadell resident, the flames and smoke reached 10 meters. Rubén's family, from Montcada y Reixac, woke up in the middle of the night to the noise of small explosions, possibly from butane gas cylinders, and they immediately activated themselves. "No announcements over the PA system, nor did anyone from the facility go door to door," he reported.

By five in the morning, everyone was already out of the facility, specifically on the seafront, where the Taberna los Serrano, a restaurant, had opened its doors to offer its services free of charge to those affected. "There were a lot of people, so we started handing out water. We even gave them the water that the workers had," explained Rafa Serrano, owner of the establishment.

In total, 18 plots were affected (16 in the first fire and two in the second). Most of the accommodations were caravans, but there were also some staycations while some people decided to return home. Others have been relocated to a hotel or within the same campsite. determine the reasons for the two fires, which do not appear to be intentional. In the first fire, the hypotheses point to a short circuit in a caravan, which caused a small fire that spread quickly. It could have been caused by the distraction of a customer during the evacuation. -3% of the 500 in the campsite—and the second burned two caravans and a car.

Orriols explained that they had checked the electrical system and found it to be working properly (except at the site where the fire occurred, which was damaged) and assured that the campsite complies with regulations. Some guests have reported not being able to find the emergency exits, but, according to Orriols, the campsite is an open space and does not require emergency exits. The spokesperson welcomed the fact that there were no human casualties and declined to comment on the ongoing investigations by the Mossos d'Esquadra.