The forest fire in Montitxelvo, in the region of Vall d’Albaida, remains out of control due to unfavorable conditions caused by strong winds and has passed through the region of Safor.
On Thursday night, more than 600 people evacuated from the municipalities of Terrateig, the Vall d’Albaida, and Castellonet de la Conquesta, the population centers of Ermita d’Ador and Monte Corona, and many urbanizations in Villalonga. Among those evacuated were residents of an Ador Mental Health Center.
The fire has also crossed the border of the province of Alicante, where firefighters from three parts of the Consortium are on alert, from Denia and La Montaña parks (Cocentaina-Alcoy), pending the town of l’Orxa and the border with Terrateig.
A critical situation is in this town of Vall d’Albaida, where at 5 p.m. it was decided to evacuate the population. The fire was already in the city center, and a house was burned.
Strong winds, up to 100 kilometers per hour, prevented the evacuating troops from stopping the advance of the fire. In addition, the air routes were not available, which made the tasks difficult.
13 crews from the Valencia Fire Consortium, 10 BRIFO forestry brigades from the Consortium, 8 forestry brigade units from the Generalitat, 8 fire engines, and 3 fire crews from the Alicante Consortium operated the site.
Also, 35 media and 114 UME personnel are operating. As indicated by the Minister of the Interior, Elisa Núñez, from the Advanced Command Post, they requested the collaboration of the Ministry, and the troops moved immediately. In addition, they also asked the state to use FOCA’s wind resources to join the eradication effort early this Friday, in anticipation that the wind may slow down.
The fire started around 4:30 p.m. between Montitxelvo and Terrateig, in the Font ravine, as explained by the councilor, in a small focus that, due to the strong wind, quickly spread in the ravine towards Terrateig, which is less than half. One hour later, he saw the flames next to the houses near him.
Núñez pointed out that due to the strength of the wind that still exists, there may be secondary explosions and that the Red Cross protocol has been activated to take care of the evacuated neighbors.
Adverse weather conditions did not appear to put out the fire quickly, despite the extensive deployment of resources that quickly traveled to the area.
The mayor of Terrateig, Silvia Ferrer, announced around 5 p.m. to the neighbors that they had to leave the municipality due to the condition of the fire and the strong wind that was blowing. In fact, the fire has already engulfed the pine forest that surrounds the sports facilities in the municipality.
The first mayor urged several hundred residents of the municipality to get the necessities and informed them that those residents who do not have a place to go or family in other municipalities to welcome them should go to Benicolet, where the City Council has offered a place to stay. theirs. .
The mayor of Benicolet, Iván MartÃnez, immediately made himself available to the mayor of Terrateig, and they made the House of Culture, the multipurpose center of Casa del Salvador, and the upper floor of the Town Hall welcome the residents of this municipality. Most of the neighbors left with relatives, and only a small group remained in Benicolet.
For its part, in Ador, a shelter was built by the Red Cross, which mobilized an immediate response team for psychosocial intervention to take care of the 350 people evicted from Castellonet and Monte Corona.
In addition, the Emergency Coordination Center reported that an 85-year-old resident of Terrateig had to be transferred to a Basic Life Support unit at the Francesc de Borja hospital in Gandia, not because of the fire but because of the movement.
The CICU activated the preventive device, consisting of the SAMU (Urgent Medical Assistance Service) unit, the EMV (Multiple Victim Emergencies) vehicle, and the VIR (Rapid Intervention Vehicle) unit.
In the first estimate, approximately 1,400 hectares were engulfed in the fire. They have now surpassed the 1,350 that burned in June 2012, where another fire also occurred in that area that they have already recovered.
