The forest fire declared this Thursday in the Devesa de El Saler, in València, has forced the preventive evacuation of the village and the campsites in the area due to the evolution of the flames. The Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat has raised to situation 2 the Special Plan against the risk of Forest Fires (PEIF).
The fire originated in the Gola de Pujol, within the natural space of the Devesa, and during the afternoon mobilized seven aerial resources, five from the Generalitat Valenciana and two from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, according to information provided by the administrations and collected by EFE.
The evolution of the fire and, especially, a change in wind direction has complicated the extinguishing tasks. The City Council of València has organized EMT buses to facilitate the departure of residents and users of the campsites who need transportation.
Evacuated El Saler and its campsites
The Municipal Operational Coordination Center (Cecopal) has ordered the preventive evacuation of the nucleus of El Saler and the campsites near the fire. The buses mobilized to assist in the evacuation will pick up those in need from the roundabout of the El Saler Examination Center.
The Local Police had already previously evacuated a residential building and a parking lot as a preventive measure and had begun to control access to the area.
The fire has also led to the closure of the CV-500 road, which connects this natural space with València. Authorities are preventing vehicle access to the areas affected by the emergency device.
The change in wind complicates extinguishing efforts
Emergency services received a call around 1:00 PM regarding the presence of smoke in the Gola de Pujol. The column was visible from various points and prompted an initial mobilization of six fire units and three aerial resources from the Generalitat.
The device has increased during the afternoon. From the Advanced Command Post, installed in the El Saler Fire Station, the Emergency Councilor of València, Juan Carlos Caballero, explained that the teams had managed to perimeter the north and south flanks, but the change in wind has forced efforts to concentrate again on the north flank.
"The wind has changed, which forces us to focus more on the northern flank," noted Caballero, who explained that three other aerial resources had been requested due to the difficulties in containing the fire.
AEMET has warned of a sudden shift of the wind from the west to a breeze from the southeast, a circumstance that can modify the direction of the fire's spread and shift the smoke towards the south and west of the metropolitan area of València.
Water cannons of El Saler activated
Among the measures adopted is also the preventive activation of the Sideinfo cannons of El Saler, the system installed to protect this area from forest fires.
The infrastructure has a high-pressure hydraulic network designed to soak the vegetation of the perimeter and thus reduce the capacity for the flames to spread.
La Devesa is part of the environment of l'Albufera de València and constitutes a particularly sensitive forest strip located between the lake and the Mediterranean. The proximity of residential areas and campsites has led the authorities to adopt evacuations as a preventive measure while the operation continues.
The Generalitat has activated situation 2 of the PEIF, a level that allows for the incorporation of extraordinary resources in the face of an emergency whose evolution may severely affect people and property.