Fire stabilized that has confined the 700 residents of Sant Quirze Safaja

BarcelonaThe optimism expressed by the Firefighters mid-afternoon has been fulfilled and after 8 p.m. this Wednesday the forest fire that confined about 700 residents of Sant Quirze Safaja, in the Moianès region, to their homes has been stabilized, with about 16 hectares burned, mostly forest land. Although the confinement has been lifted, the population is recommended not to approach the place where the flames are still burning to facilitate the movements of the extinction teams.

The forest fire broke out this Sunday midday among the bushes at the foot of the BV-1314 road and a few meters from the Illa campsite. Although the Forest Agents are in charge of investigating the origin of the fire, the location suggests that human hands may easily be behind the incident, either due to a poorly extinguished cigarette butt or the impact of a firecracker. In any case, the flames advised to immediately cut off the road and confine the residents of the campsite due to the rapid spread and high intensity of the flames. Subsequently, access to the C-59 was blocked and the Sant Miquel del Fai enclosure was closed, and around 3:30 p.m. Civil Protection sent an ES-Alert to all active mobile phones in Sant Quirze asking the population to stay indoors and close doors and windows to prevent smoke from entering. The alert was deactivated with the sending of a new ES-Alert message almost five hours later. However, the Firefighters maintain a device in the area to continue with the tasks to consolidate its perimeter to prevent it from approaching the urbanized areas and to declare it extinguished.

When the Firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a fire with two flanks that was growing upwards and evolving according to the wind, so that shortly before 5 p.m. the priority of the extinguishing teams was the left flank, being the most active part, which advances through a stony area that slows down the progress of the flames.

Throughout the day, fires have been declared that the firefighters have been controlling and extinguishing in Rubí, Piera, or in an area of difficult access in Isil, in Pallars Sobirà. In Piera, in the region of Anoia, the firefighters have managed to extinguish a fire originating in a vegetation area between houses on a street in the urbanization of Can Martí de l'Estela. One hectare of plots has been affected, but no houses have suffered damage. In Girona, another fire declared near the high-speed tracks has momentarily stopped high-speed traffic between Girona and Figueres, which has now been re-established.