The Baix Ebre fire remains active and lockdowns remain in place.

Barcelona / TortosaHeBaix Ebre fire, which has already burned some 3,200 hectares of mostly forested land, remains active and maintains the lockdown of 18,000 people. Strong winds during Monday night, with sustained gusts of 90 kilometers per hour, complicated attempts to contain the fire, but throughout Tuesday, the flames were prevented from spreading further into the Els Ports Natural Park. With some optimism given an improved weather forecast, firefighters worked intensely last night to try to stabilize the fire, something that has not yet been achieved.

Weather conditions will be more favorable this Wednesday, after the dry mistral wind arrived on Tuesday afternoon and finally put an end to the dry mistral wind. Humidity has risen slightly and will rise further throughout the day. A day with significant cloud cover is expected, which will slow temperatures that will remain below 30°C all day. Furthermore, the occasional shower cannot be ruled out in the area during the day.

However, firefighters anticipate that hours of work will still be needed to stabilize the fire. The improvement in conditions has led this morning, Civil Protection to end the home confinement that had affected six municipalities since Monday, and a more flexible one is being maintained for safety reasons in the town of Paüls. Also in the municipalities of Pinell de Brai and Prat de Comte, the confinement is municipal, but no longer home. However, authorities are urging caution and not to make any transfers unless strictly necessary to clear the roads for the teams working to combat the fire.

On Monday night, the mistral wind greatly complicated the firefighters' work, to the point that the fire was "totally beyond" their capacity to extinguish, as the firefighters admitted. However, the scenario this Tuesday night was completely different: the mistral wind no longer blew in the area and also eased the pressure, creating "a tough afternoon" for the firefighters. "Tonight we will have a very good window of opportunity. If not to stabilize it, then to practically achieve it," predicted the Deputy Chief of the Fire Department, Francesc Boya.

The fire in Baix Ebre required the activation of 420 firefighters, many more than the 350 usually on duty. Also working are some 250 members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), requested by the Generalitat at the request of the Fire Department. While the Chief of the Fire Department, David Borrell, described the working conditions at the fire as "very difficult, precarious, and tough," Boya said that it was not an "extreme situation" for the force, but it did require an "enormous effort." Furthermore, Another fire in Anoia forced firefighters to divide resources during the afternoon on Tuesday.The body was finally stabilized at 9:30 p.m., but firefighters' ground units are still working on it.

The violence of the wind causes the fire to jump the Ebro

"It's been a huge effort and it's been worth it," Boya said after ruling out the possibility of the fire re-entering Els Ports. This was the biggest concern on Tuesday afternoon. Even though The forecast already indicated that the gusts would ease, which would favor the general extinction of the fire, the entry of the marsh also threatened to modify the wind direction and put the Els Ports area at risk. "It would put the fire in a natural area of high ecological value and would pose a high operational difficulty due to the lack of access," predicted the deputy director of the Fire Department hours earlier, painting a picture of "many more hectares burned, with great difficulty and, therefore, a long period of time." Hours later, however, the firefighters expressed their "satisfaction" to be able to rule out this scenario.

Also from Tortosa, the head of the Fire Department, David Borrell, highlighted the "violence" with which the wind blew during the night from Monday to Tuesday. Gusts went from between 28 and 30 km/h to 90, which made attempts to control the left side of the fire "extremely" difficult. In fact, the work in the early hours of Tuesday focused on trying to prevent the fire from spreading across the Ebro River on the road between Paüls—where it started—and Xerta. During the night, the mistral wind had caused the flames to spread to Tivenys, the first town on the other side of the river affected by the blaze. However, the firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from spreading towards the Cardó mountain range, a top priority along with protecting Els Ports.

So far, evacuations have been limited to some farmhouses and areas such as the Toscar neighborhood of Alfara de Carles. Among the personal injuries reported, only four people suffered minor injuries, apart from a firefighter who suffered heat stroke, while some structures were damaged. "My solidarity with the affected residents. We are following the instructions and exercising caution," wrote Spanish President Pedro Sánchez in a message on the social network X.

The mayor of Paüls: "We fear the change in wind direction."

Following the news closely, Tuesday night was a long one on the ground, starting with the village of Paüls, where the fire started. The municipality has been completely isolated, although the mistral wind has pushed the fire in the opposite direction to the town. Mayor Enric Adell spoke at the ARA this morning. "The fear is that, with the wind change expected at noon, the situation could turn around. We are concerned that, depending on how the garbinada [the southeast wind, coming from the sea] blows, the fire could grow towards the town, towards the Omb, and stop the flames," he warned.

For the time being, inhabited farmhouses in the municipality have been evacuated as a precaution, and the villagers have been asked not to access the country houses. This morning, the firefighters and the helicopters landing. Logistics management has been complicated by the decline in mobile phone coverage, although, for the time being, telematic communication is maintained thanks to internet and radio frequency networks.

Large deployment due to the risk of simultaneous fires

Also assisting in the fire are personnel from the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF), which report to the Spanish government, and volunteers from the Forest Defense Groups. Also involved are a dozen aerial vehicles, along with two seaplanes from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Ministry for Demographic Response. Isabel Díaz Ayuso has provided the Generalitat with firefighting equipment from the region. Beyond the difficulties in controlling the fire, the large deployment is due to the desire to have all available resources in case of simultaneous fires.

Another fire in Perelló

Meanwhile, another fire affected a forest area in Puig Moltó on Tuesday. Firefighters received the alert at 4:30 a.m. from a location near the N-340 highway, near Perelló. From there, a column of white smoke was visible, and firefighters dispatched seven fire crews to address the blaze. After approximately an hour of work, they managed to surround the fire, and the helicopter completed its firefighting operations.