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As Alicante continues to endure one of its most intense summers on record, firefighters have been called into action after a rare heat burst brought strong winds and damage to parts of the province on Tuesday afternoon, July 21.

 

Emergency services responded to five incidents in Elda and neighbouring Petrer after powerful gusts knocked down trees and tore away several awnings.

 

The unusual weather event comes at a time when Alicante is already grappling with the effects of prolonged extreme temperatures. The province has recently recorded 126 deaths linked to heat during the first month of summer, the highest figure in the Valencian Community and part of the deadliest start to summer since regional records began.

 

With weather conditions remaining unstable, the Alicante Provincial Fire Consortium has activated two special overnight crews to monitor areas where a high number of lightning strikes were detected on Tuesday.

 

The precautionary measure is designed to reduce the risk of so-called dormant lightning fires, where vegetation can smoulder unnoticed for hours before igniting into a larger blaze.

 

The crews will remain on duty from 9pm on Tuesday until 8am on Wednesday, carrying out surveillance in some of the areas considered most at risk.

 

The La Montaña fire station, covering the Cocentaina and Alcoy area, will monitor the northern part of the province, including the Sierra de Mariola mountain range and surrounding districts. Meanwhile, crews from La Marina will focus on Vall d'Ebo, Vall de Laguar and nearby coastal areas.

 

They will be joined by specialist forest fire units based in Benissa and Tibi. These teams will patrol areas including Vall de Gallinera, Planes, Biar and parts of the southern slopes of the Sierra de Mariola.

 

Between 5.20pm and 8.06pm on Tuesday alone, firefighters carried out a total of 15 interventions across Alicante province, highlighting the pressure emergency services face as high temperatures, strong winds and wildfire risks continue to combine across the community.