An out-of-control fire is burning in Empordà and Gavarres and forces more than 45,000 people to confine themselves

La Bisbal d'Empordà / BarcelonaThe spark from an angle grinder that was used improperly at the side of the GI-660 road is the main hypothesis for the origin of a vegetation fire that began this Friday at midday in La Bisbal d'Empordà and spread rapidly. Driven by the strong Tramuntana wind, the fire entered the protected Gavarres massif and is advancing uncontrollably. At present, the flames have already burned approximately 1,280 hectares, according to Agents Rurals. Although the investigation of the facts is still in a very early stage, the Mossos d'Esquadra have already arrested a man presumably linked to the fire. According to the Government, he would be a worker who was repositioning a road sign.

The virulence of the flames and the smoke columns —between 4 and 5 kilometers high, according to the Meteorological Service of Catalonia— has caused about 45,000 residents of a dozen towns in the area to be confined, closing doors and windows. At the same time, more than a hundred residents have been evacuated from the Vall Repòs urbanization in Santa Cristina and are following the evolution of the fire from the Espai Ridaura in Santa Cristina d'Aro, where about seventy children from a holiday camp in Romanyà de la Selva are also sheltered.

From the command center in La Bisbal d'Empordà, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, explained that the firefighters continue to work in a "complicated" scenario. "The fire is very active," she warned, taking for granted that the extinction tasks will last at least until Saturday. In this regard, she specified that there are more than 200 firefighters and a dozen aerial resources struggling to stabilize the fire. Given the behavior of the flames and the start of the weekend, the authorities have asked the population —especially that of the metropolitan area— to cancel planned trips to the affected area, especially those who have second homes there.

Extinguishing operations are being carried out over a thousand hectares and the firefighters' priority is to contain the head of the fire due to the possible impact it could have on the urbanized area, which is closest to the coast. But the right flank, on the Santa Cristina side, is also a concern. In fact, it will be particularly relevant to advance operations throughout this evening to prepare for tomorrow afternoon, when the sea breeze will prevail over the tramuntana wind, and extinguishing work will be "very complicated," according to the chief inspector of the Generalitat Firefighters, David Borrell. Due to this wind pattern, the possible advance of the right flank could affect an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 hectares in the Gavarres area.

Thus, the next 24 hours will be key. The fact that the tramuntana wind will blow all night will create "very favorable conditions for work," and therefore, the firefighters will take advantage of this to advance "as much as possible" before the sea breeze makes its presence felt. For their part, the head of the Girona regional area of Rural Agents, Jaume Bosch, stated that the investigation points to the "improper" use of a grinder at the roadside as the origin of the fire. The corps suspects that the origin would be a spark from mechanical work being carried out on the GI-660 road, despite the prohibition of using such machinery when level 3 of the Alfa plan is activated. Following the arrest of the suspect, the Directorate General of Mobility Infrastructure has requested information from the company that holds the road maintenance contract to determine how the operator acted and to examine whether there have been any breaches of regulations, especially regarding the limitations derived from the Alfa Plan.

Roads closed

In the Gavarres massif there are more than 30,000 hectares, all of them privately owned properties. Forest owners, grouped within the Consorci de les Gavarres, are living through hours of great concern. "It is still too early to draw conclusions, but it is clear that there has been a very large impact on all properties and the fire has affected inhabited farmhouses," explains the President of the Consortium, Quim Gubau, to ARA. Owners have long been warning of the dangers of the forest situation and that they carry out various actions on the ground to prevent fires. "We have not had a fire of more than a thousand hectares since the 80s," he concludes.

The behavior of this fire fits within the dreaded sixth-generation fires, which are characterized by their speed and the difficulties in combating them. For this reason, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has requested assistance from the UME, the specialized military unit of the Spanish army, "at the request of Civil Protection." In the afternoon, Parlon confirmed that nearly 200 soldiers and 60 vehicles from the UME are currently traveling to Baix Empordà to ensure coverage in case of simultaneous flanks.

The fire also forced the closure of several road sections in the area at 4:30 p.m. The C-66 is closed between Palafrugell and Forallac in both directions, from kilometer 0 to 8. The GI-513 between Cornellà del Terri and Vilademuls, from kilometers 3 to 9, also in both directions. The GI-660 has an 11-kilometer section affected, from 1 to 12, between La Bisbal and Calonge, also in both directions. The GIV-5132 between kilometers 0 and 12, from Banyoles to Vilademuls, also in both directions. And on the GIV-6612 the impact is from kilometer 0 to 15, between Llagostera and Calonge, also in both directions. In total, at 6:30 p.m., all these closures add up to about 60 kilometers of sections where circulation is not possible, according to data from the Servei Català de Trànsit. Although initially there were five closed roads, two were recovered in the evening: the GI-513 and the GIV-5132.

The President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, will travel first thing this Saturday morning to the command center in La Bisbal d'Empordà to learn about and follow the evolution of the fire.