A fire in the Devesa del Saler forces the closure of the CV-500 and the evacuation of residents

ValenciaA fire in the Pujol inlet area, in El Saler, has alerted firefighters, who have had to evacuate Tower 1 of the Aparwaks urbanization as a precaution. Twelve firefighting units have been deployed there, joined by seven resources from the Generalitat, two from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and the UME. In addition, units from the Third Battalion of Intervention in Emergencies have left their base in Bétera to join the extinction missions of the forest fire.

As a preventive measure, the Sideinfo cannons have been activated, a high-pressure hydraulic network that allows wetting the vegetation on the perimeter in case of fire to prevent its spread.

Evacuation of the inhabitants of El Saler

After the CECOPAL, it has been decided to evacuate the residents of the Saler district and the campsites near the fire area, in addition to closing the CV-500. The Valencia City Council has activated a device to transfer people with mobility problems by EMT buses.

Faced with this scenario, the Emergency Coordination Centre has raised the situation to level 2 and an Es-Alert has been sent to the affected population. For the displaced, two facilities have been prepared: l'Alqueria del Basket, which was already enabled at the time for the 2024 storm, and la Fonteta de Sant Lluís.

"In the first tower we evacuated 30 people as a precaution due to possible smoke inhalation; in the town of El Saler we evacuated about 120 people and at the campsites we are still moving people to la Fonteta and Alqueria del Basket," explained María José Català, Mayoress of Valencia.

David Roca, head of the Valencia Firefighters, has expressed optimism about the possibility of controlling the fire soon and has calculated that the burned hectares amount to approximately 48, even though this figure is not official and the cause of the fire is unknown.