The forest fire declared in Niebla (Huelva) presents a favorable evolution after the operation has managed to contain the advance of the flames in a good part of its perimeter. The southern, northern, and northwestern sectors remain without active fronts, while the work is concentrated in the eastern area, towards several municipalities in the province of Sevilla.
The first vice president of the Junta de Andalucía and counselor of Presidency, Health, and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, has explained from the Advanced Command Post that the strategy employed has significantly reduced the fire's propagation capacity.
The improvement does not mean, however, that the fire is stabilized or controlled. The teams continue to cool the perimeter, eliminating hot spots and building defense lines to prevent reproductions.
The eastern sector concentrates the greatest efforts
The southern flank is inactive after the firefighting services have extinguished the flames in the area of Los Carneros. In the northwestern sector, between El Pozuelo, Marigenta, and Berrocal, the work focuses on monitoring and extinguishing residual hotspots.
The northern area, from Berrocal to El Álamo, currently also does not present an active front. The forces maintain water lines there and have completed a defense with heavy machinery on the road of Los Camellos.
The most complicated situation remains in the eastern sector, especially in the vicinity of the road that connects Aznalcóllar with El Álamo and towards El Castillo de las Guardas. This is the point where the main efforts are concentrated to prevent new leaps of the fire towards the province of Sevilla.
During the last few days, convective phenomena and pyrocumulus capable of generating secondary hotspots at distances of up to 3.5 kilometers have occurred. These episodes forced, at certain moments, the temporary withdrawal of ground and aerial resources to ensure the safety of personnel.
A device with 875 personnel and 33 aerial resources
The operation mobilized against the fire is composed of 875 personnel, including staff who intervene directly and crews dedicated to monitoring and cooling the areas traversed by the fire.
Additionally, 33 aerial resources and 352 mechanical resources participate in the tasks, among which are 18 bulldozers used to build firebreaks and defense lines.
The device integrates specialists from the Emergency Agency of Andalusia and the Infoca Plan, members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), professionals from the Institute of Emergencies and Public Safety, and firefighters from the provincial consortia of Huelva and Seville and from the City Council of Huelva.
Agents of the Civil Guard, the police assigned to the Board, local police, Civil Protection volunteers, Red Cross personnel, and health teams from 061 are also working on the emergency.
The perimeter may exceed 38,000 hectares
The Board of Andalusia estimates that the area covered by the perimeter of the fire may exceed 38,000 hectares, an extent that places the fire in Niebla alongside that of Riotinto in 2004 among the most serious recorded in the community.
Authorities have warned, however, that this figure does not equate to the completely burned area. Within the perimeter, there are areas that have not burned, so the actual affected extent will be lower and can only be specified when technicians carry out the definitive measurement.
Although the reduction of active fronts represents the first significant advance since the beginning of the emergency, the fire remains active and monitoring will continue to be intense, especially at the boundary between Huelva and Seville.