The Vendrell court is investigating a fault in the power line as the cause of the Calafell forest fire that forced the confinement of two urbanizations due to smoke on Tuesday night, forced the evacuation of 30 residents, with the flames at the doors of their houses, and mobilized dozens of Fire Departments for 24 hours. The Agents Rurals investigation has determined that the most probable cause was the friction of the wiring of the medium voltage network that passes through the area with the electrical support as the origin of the sparks that caused the first flames. The strong wind that blew on Tuesday in Baix Penedès and the extreme dryness of the forest mass did the rest.
The start time of the fire, around 5:55 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, coincides with the fall of the investigated power line.
The medium voltage power line (25 KW) is the responsibility of Endesa, which is in charge of its maintenance along its entire route, aerial in this case, and also of the electric poles. "Maximum collaboration with the authorities in everything they need," said an Endesa spokesman.
The Agents Rurals put forward the hypothesis of the electrical network a few hours after the start of the Calafell fire, especially worrying due to its proximity to urban centers. The presence of the power line near the area where the fire started quickly set off the alarms.
In addition to the investigation opened by the Vendrell court, the case is in the hands of the Tarragona Environment Prosecutor's Office, thanks to the documentation provided by Agents Rurals.
The investigation, with the information that the electrical company can also provide, should help to determine the causes of the breakdown in the electrical network, why the wiring rubbed against the electrical support.
Electrical networks are among the causes of forest fires, especially in summer, with the most intense heat. The extreme drought of the last two years in Catalonia has disrupted the usual scenario this end of winter, with the risk of fire much higher than expected.
The Calafell forest fire has burned an area of 24 hectares of forest and vegetation. The simultaneous work of 45 firefighters' ground crews, with almost a hundred mobilized troops, prevented the flames from calcining some houses in the Mas Mel urbanization, the first afternoon and night of the fire.
The fire affected some gardens and fences of several chalets, but did not burn any houses. A shelter-center for injured or sick cats also had to be evacuated on the afternoon of the fire in the same urbanization. No animals were injured.
The firefighters needed almost 12 hours to stabilize the progress of the fire and they could not control it until early in the afternoon of the following day. Several endowments had to soak some hot spots yesterday to be able to consider it extinct, 48 hours later.
