The forest fire declared this Friday in La Bisbal d’Empordà, in Girona, remains active and keeps the Generalitat on alert due to its growth potential within the Les Gavarres massif. According to initial estimates by the Agentes Rurales, the fire has burned approximately 2,300 hectares, mostly forest land, and 97% of the affected area is located within this natural space.
The President of the Generalitat,Salvador Illa, announced this Saturday the closure of the entire natural area of Les Gavarres as a preventive measure. The president warned that the fire is “worrying” and that, in the worst-case scenario, it could affect the entire massif, some 30,000 hectares. Illa traveled to the operational command center in La Bisbal accompanied by the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Núria Parlon, to monitor the fire's evolution and coordinate emergency measures.
12,000 people confined in seven municipalities
Approximately 12,000 people remain confined to their homes due to the fire. The order affects neighborhoods, urbanizations, and homes in Calonge i Sant Antoni, Castell d’Aro, including the areas of Platja d’Aro and S’Agaró, Cruïlles, Monells i Sant Sadurní de l’Heura, Forallac, La Bisbal d’Empordà, Llagostera, and Santa Cristina d’Aro.
Civil Protection, the Firefighters, and local authorities have insisted that residents must respect the confinement for their own safety. During the night, several residents of Calonge left their homes and gathered in the public street, a situation that led the chief inspector of the Bombers de la Generalitat,David Borrell, to remind them that, although nervousness is understandable,“the safest thing” is to stay indoors.
“The risk is in the transit of evacuation”
Borrell explained that, in this type of emergency, the greatest risk occurs during transit.“When people are at home, people are safe. And if the fire enters, it is prevented from reaching the interior of the house. We understand that it creates nervousness. But people are putting themselves at risk when they are outside,”he stated.
The head of the Firefighters insisted that the danger lies in the transit of evacuation, when there is no shelter if the fire reaches people. To reinforce the message, he recalled the more than two hundred deaths registered in Portugal a few years ago, when many people fleeing a fire were caught by the flames on a road.
Illa has also asked the population to follow official instructions. "As counterintuitive as it may seem, it is the way to be safer. The maximum risk occurs when people move," the president stated.
Firefighters stabilize 70% of the right flank
During the night, about 500 people worked in the area, including personnel from the Generalitat Firefighters and around 100 members of the Military Emergencies Unit, the UME. With the arrival of daylight, ten aerial resources have also joined the extinction efforts.
The firefighters have managed to stabilize 70% of the right flank, one of the key points of the fire. Borrell explained that the teams have until noon, when the sea breeze is expected to arrive, to consolidate the progress made during the night. That change in wind could alter the fire's behavior and force a strategy rethink in the afternoon.
The right flank remains a priority, but not the only one. The left flank has caused the most problems during the night, especially because it affects inhabited areas and urbanizations. According to Borrell, the fire that is advancing uphill, on both sides, towards the summit of Puig d’Arques, between Cruïlles, Romanyà de la Selva, and Sant Sadurní de l’Heura, is still uncontrolled.
One house burned and damage in Calonge
The fire has reached different urbanizations in the area of Calonge i Sant Antoni, especially Les Cabanyes, where a vacant house was burned. Damage has also been reported to gardens, fences, doors, exterior carpentry, and windows of other houses in the area.
In the Les Gavarres massif, the fire burned the farmhouse of Can Marcó this Friday. Despite the material damage, no injuries have been reported among the population. Illa reported that four firefighters were treated for minor injuries, although they have already been able to return to extinction efforts.
Rural Agents indicate that the most affected area so far is Monells. Within the fire perimeter, however, there are "green islands" that have not been burned, so the final count of affected hectares could be slightly reduced.
Roads closed and origin of the fire
The Catalan Traffic Service keeps the GI-660, in La Bisbal, and the GIV-6612, from Llagostera to Calonge, closed. The C-66, in Palafrugell, has already been reopened to traffic.
The fire originated this Friday from sparks emitted by a grinder with which a worker was working next to a road in the Les Gavarres massif. The worker was subsequently arrested by the Mossos d’Esquadra and will presumably be brought before the court.
Illa has assured that the Government will get “to the bottom” of the investigation. “We have requested all necessary information from the company, which is cooperating. I do not want to anticipate anything. I can assure you that we will get to the end. If there have been responsibilities or imprudences, we will substantiate them and provide explanations,” he stated.
The children from camps have already returned home
The more than 100 children who were at summer camps and were caught by the fire have already begun their return home and are not in the fire zone. Among them, about 70 minors who were in a summer camp in Romanyà de la Selva were initially transferred to a municipal pavilion in Santa Cristina d’Aro, where they spent the night assisted by Cruz Roja.
Protección Civil has also reported that there are still about 18 evacuated residents from their homes. Added to them are the approximately 130 residents who self-evacuated during the night in Calonge i Sant Antoni and remained in various public places or in a pavilion set up by the City Council, although they have now left.
Fontcoberta, controlled
The Rural Agents have also reported that the other fire registered this Friday in Girona, in the municipality of Fontcoberta, in the region of Pla de l’Estany, is controlled. In this case, the fire has burned about 35 hectares and its origin was accidental, due to agricultural work, with no negligence in its initiation.
The main attention continues to be focused on La Bisbal d’Empordà, where the evolution of the wind and the arrival of the heatwave could complicate the next few hours.
132 municipalities at very high risk of fire
The Generalitat has reported that this Saturday the risk of forest fires remains high in the extremities of Catalonia due to the tramontana and the marinada. In total, there are 132 municipalities with a very high risk of fire and 491 with a high risk.
Illa has warned that this Sunday a “delicate phase” will begin due to the arrival of a new heatwave which, according to meteorological forecasts, will last until Wednesday. The Government does not rule out closing other natural spaces if the risk increases in the coming hours.
The president will meet again with the mayors of the affected municipalities to evaluate the evolution of the fire and decide whether it is necessary to maintain, relax, or expand the adopted measures. For now, the objective remains clear: to stabilize the right flank, protect the inhabited areas, and prevent the fire from advancing through Les Gavarres.