Firefighters declare the Montgrí fire under control and the Ventalló fire stabilised

BarcelonaFirefighters have controlled the fire in the Montgrí massif in the Baix Empordà that has been burning since last Thursday. The fire has burned 91 hectares of forest mass and until this Sunday it has not been controlled. The deputy inspector of the Fire Department, Antoni Valdepeñas, explains that they also hope to control the fire in Ventalló on Sunday (Alt Empordà), just 20 kilometers from the first and stabilised since Sunday morning, but where there are still hot spots that require firefighters to be vigilant, according to ACN.

"We are optimistic, but we have to be alert because there are secondary foci that can complicate things for us", said Valdepeñas. The Gi-623 road has also reopened.

The fire has burned about 50 hectares of forest, mostly in the municipality of Vilopriu. The fire started in a wooded and open area of Ventalló, known as El Forn. The tramontane pushed it immediately and it jumped the road and continued advancing in the direction of Vilopriu and Olives. One of the problems were the different secondary foci that kept popping up and complicated the work of extinguishing the fire for the firefighters, who were finally able to stop it and control it. No homes had to be evacuated, but roads were cut.

Flanks pending soaking

Firefighters have been all night working on the tasks of extinction with 20 vehicles deployed to close the perimeter of the fire. The head of the operation, Jordi Martin, has detailed that the fire has affected about "50 hectares of agricultural and forestry".

Looking ahead to Sunday, the fire brigade will maintain a team of 10 water vehicles and 5 command vehicles. "There are still some flanks that need to be removed and which could cause a scare, but a very good job has been done tonight", the mayoress of Ventalló, Remei Costa, told Catalunya Ràdio. The GI-623 road from Camallera to l'Escala (Alt Empordà) is expected to reopen on Sunday. This road is closed to facilitate the transit of fire engines to the hot zones.

Martin has also highlighted the difficulty for the firefighters in having to work with several fires at the same time. The problem was that the fire was declared when they were already working on the Santa Coloma de Queralt fire, and when the Montgrí massif fire was still active. The fire in Santa Coloma, which has already reached the Anoia, remains out of control, which is why the Government has asked for support from the Spanish government to try to stop it, while the Montgrí massif fire, in the Baix Empordà, was stabilised this Saturday despite not yet being extinguished.