The Firefighters of the Generalitat have managed to stabilize the forest fire in Lladurs (Lleida), one of the most worrying due to its potential, and are redoubling efforts in the one in Artesa de Segre (Lleida), where it is feared that the south wind will rekindle the flames mid-morning this Saturday.
The Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, has remarked that this Saturday will be “as hard a day” as the previous ones because there is still a lot of “dispersion” and “simultaneity” of fires throughout the community, which will force the distribution of firefighters.
Although temperatures will drop a bit, it is expected that there will be more wind, which makes it difficult to extinguish the flames. For his part, the operational chief of the Generalitat Fire Department, David Borrell, explained that the priority is to keep the Artesa de Segre fire “confined” within a perimeter of 5,000 hectares. Despite the difficulties, the objectives set by the body are being met. “We are where we wanted to be”, he added.
As reported by the Fire Department of the Generalitat, the Lladurs forest fire has been considered stabilized after burning 50 hectares, which has prevented the advance of a fire that threatened to burn nearly 50,000 hectares of forest mass.
On the contrary, the fire that broke out last Wednesday in Artesa de Segre is still active, which has burned nearly 1,700 hectares of land, for which the Generalitat Fire Brigade has allocated some 70 ground troops and a dozen aerial.
In statements to the media from Artesa, the delegate of the Government in Lleida, Bernat Solé, explained that the potential risk of this fire is “relatively controlled” after this Friday afternoon, “very complicated” by the advance of two languages of fire that could finally be contained.
However, the delegate explained that the emergency teams are still concerned about one of the sources of the fire, which could advance towards a wooded area, and about the south wind that is expected to start blowing mid-morning or noon.
The objective set for today by the Fire Department is not to exceed the first confinement axis, of 5,000 hectares, in the Artesa de Segre fire, to which most of the aerial means will be allocated.
The work is focused on the northeast area of the fire and the behavior of the fire on the northwest flank, which has been worked on throughout the night, with the most favorable weather conditions, is pending.
In parallel, another forest fire is active that started in Coll de Nargó due to a lightning strike, while the other fires caused by an electrical storm -Peramola and Cabó- are already stabilized. The fires in Artesa de Segre and those in the Solsonès region today mobilize 120 vehicles and 400 members of the Generalitat Fire Brigade, as well as 21 air vehicles and three bombers.
Until now, nearly 2,500 hectares have been destroyed in Catalonia by the fires declared in recent days, coinciding with a heat wave that has left record temperatures in the community: 1,636 hectares in Artesa de Segre, 397 in Corbera d’Ebre ( Tarragona), 329 in Castellar de la Ribera (Lleida) and 21 in Sallent (Barcelona).
This Saturday is expected to be a complicated day again from a meteorological point of view, with very high temperatures and a southerly wind coming in, according to the Fire Department.
www.eldiario.es