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ARCHIVED - Lightning bolt causes 500-hectare forest fire in Castellon
Emergency service workers from Castellón and from the region of Valencia have been working non-stop for over 36 hours
A wildfire which started on Saturday, August 14, has now been declared stabilized after burning through 500 hectares of land in the province of Castellón.
The authorities believe the blaze was started by a lighting bolt on Saturday evening in the municipality of Azuébar, where around 300 people have been evacuated.
Due to the high temperatures, which reached over 40º, and strong winds of up to 40km/h, the fire spread quickly, affecting the municipalities of Azuébar, Almedíjar and Soneja.
Around 350 firefighters and 23 aerial units, along with 154 officers from the Military Emergency Unit (UME), have been working since Saturday night to get the wildfire under control.
Con la evolución favorable del #IFAzuebar, os compartimos el vídeo del momento en que sobre las 02.30h de esta pasada madrugada, con condiciones críticas de viento de poniente y temperaturas de más de 40 grados, uno de los flancos del incendio se descontrola totalmente. pic.twitter.com/gpL6f4VLWJ
— CPBC (@SIAB_Castellon) August 15, 2021
One of the emergency services’ main goals was to prevent the fire from reaching the natural park of Sierra de Espadán, although a small part of this protected area has already been affected.
The blaze was declared stabilized in the early hours of Monday morning (August 16), meaning that, while not yet under control, the fire is spreading as expected within the lines of control set up by the firefighting teams.
In addition, the port of Sagunto has now been reopened after being closed to the public on Sunday to provide better water access to the aerial firefighting units.
The hot weather has provoked several huge fires in other areas of Spain over the last few days, with major incidents burning thousands of hectares in each of the Catalunya, Valencia and Andalucían regions. In Ávila on Sunday 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes as the wildfire there reached 10,000 hectares.
IMAGE: Consorcio Provincial de Bomberos de Castellón
