UME personnel working in an area affected by the fire in Xerta.LORENA SOPENA/ EUROPA PRESS
ARA
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BarcelonaThere are good prospects for the Paüls fire in Baix Ebre to be brought under control in the next few hours. After four days of blazing, firefighters are confident that they will be able to control the blaze, which has affected an area of more than 3,300 hectares, by tonight. Efforts are now focused on inspecting nine hotspots to finish them off. The light rain that has fallen in the area throughout the night and the drop in temperatures have helped to cool the ground.
Throughout the afternoon, favorable conditions have continued to allow the blaze to be brought under control, in which A firefighter assistant died when he fell down a 20-meter slope. high. "In the afternoon, we will begin to assess whether we consider the fire under control," announced the head of the fire response, Mar Gil, in a media interview. In fact, the force is now inspecting the perimeter of the fire, and Gil explained that two bonfires have appeared in areas that were already under control, both with water bombers and manually. "These are the areas we are paying the most attention to," admitted the official. The lockdowns affecting 18,000 residents of several towns were the last to regain mobility. The residents of Paüls, the town where the fire started, were given the go-ahead to be released around dusk on Wednesday.
The high winds give firefighters confidence that they will be able to consider the fire under control in the coming hours. The winds are above 15 km/h, but it should not be a cause for alarm," she concluded.
A UME vehicle in an area affected by the fire, on July 9, 2025, in Xerta, TarragonaLorena Sopêna / Europa Press
The neighbors, once released from confinement, were able to go out on Wednesday check the fire damage on the ground and in their farmhouses or estates. "We didn't think so, but the house was saved. The fire went through the ravine next door," Núria, one of those affected, explained to ARA.
In parallel, the Rural Agents corps and the Mossos d'Esquadra have created an investigation group to jointly clarify the origin of the fire. In statements to journalists, they emphasized that the investigation is very complex, but that they have already managed to narrow down the area to between one or two hectares where the fire is believed to have started. What is known so far is that the fire started in a forested area that is easily accessible and that it would be at one end of the fire. "Right now there is no probable cause; we will have to look at many things and rule out many others as well," Rural Agents sub-inspector Xavier Gilabert emphasized on Wednesday.
Environmentalist complaint about the fire in Ponent
Ipcena and Ecologists of Catalonia filed a complaint this Thursday with the Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia against the Department of Agriculture and the central service of Rural Agents for "irresponsibility" in the Torrefeta and Florejacs fire that burned some 5,000 hectares of crops and forests in Ponent, resulting in deaths.
The spokesperson for the organizations, Joan Vázquez, stated that although the Rural Agents' map indicated that Plan Alfa 3 was active that day due to the hot and humid conditions, it was reduced to allow the grain harvesters to operate. In this regard, the complainants assume that the fires in Torrefeta and Florejacs, as well as the one in Sanaüja, which started on July 1, were caused by a grain harvester, although the investigation is still open to clarify the source. Vázquez spoke of "very serious circumstances" on the part of the administrations responsible for managing these fires, which is why they have filed the complaint, seeking to initiate a criminal investigation to determine the alleged perpetrators.
Environmentalists point the finger directly at the Directorate General of Forests, under the Department of Agriculture, and the central services of the Rural Agents Corps, under the Department of the Interior, as responsible, as they believe they have failed to develop the necessary resources or preventative action policies to prevent fires that "in many cases could have been avoided." Furthermore, regarding the measures presented by the mayors affected by the fire, Vázquez warned that a review of the existing SPAs in this area cannot be requested, nor can agricultural creams be authorized, and has announced that they will oppose them.
![A UME vehicle in an area affected by the fire, on July 9, 2025, in Xerta, Tarragona](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 7727 5151"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
