Asturias suffers a hell of fire with several fires surrounding Oviedo

Asturias was once again yesterday, for the second consecutive day, a fiery hell, from the border with a Cantabria also ravaged by flames to close to Galicia, with a central point of the crisis right in the capital, Oviedo, surrounded by the devastating fire on Mount Naranco that threatened to spread to the city.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
31 March 2023 Friday 23:51
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Asturias suffers a hell of fire with several fires surrounding Oviedo

Asturias was once again yesterday, for the second consecutive day, a fiery hell, from the border with a Cantabria also ravaged by flames to close to Galicia, with a central point of the crisis right in the capital, Oviedo, surrounded by the devastating fire on Mount Naranco that threatened to spread to the city. While the president of the community, the socialist Adrián Barbón, spoke of "terrorism" and proclaimed that "Asturias does not burn, they burn it" and the Government was more cautious, the overwhelmed firefighting services had to face all day long a hundred spotlights, fanned by the south wind, the hottest, waiting for the predictions to come true and for the rain to be the relentless extinction service over the weekend.

"What I want is to return to my house as soon as possible, fearing that I will find what I do not want," said a resident of Valdés, from the western part of the principality, which was yesterday, together with Tineo, the municipality most affected by the flames. On the emergency map of an Asturias dyed by the colors of the alerts, yesterday this area stood out above all, with a series of fires that extended from the Cantabrian coast inland.

For now, without any data on hectares burned, not even on houses destroyed, although there is information that houses, stables and granaries have burned, in addition to the number of active fires, which at the end of the afternoon was 96, the another that was available was that of evicted people, 375, the majority in the western area of ​​Asturias.

But the emergency services also had to remove residents from their homes in Oviedo, on Mount Naranco and in the Fitoria neighborhood, so that the flames reached the very gates of the Asturian capital. The videos of the emergency services and of individuals show the apocalyptic testimony of the night from Thursday to Friday and of yesterday's day on the mountain on whose foot the city is located. The out-of-control tongues of fire engulfed the eucalyptus trees and bushes, while the fire services tried to protect the homes and neighbors. The Citizen Security area of ​​the Oviedo City Council confirmed that the fire declared on Mount Naranco was controlled at the last minute.

The president of the principality emphasized yesterday that the essential task was "to save lives." “This is the closest thing to what we experience in the pandemic,” he declared. Adrián Barbón insisted throughout the day on his message about criminal intent. "There is real terrorism, because there is no other way to explain why the Naranco, so close to Oviedo, or why the area around the Cabo Noval barracks is on fire," he declared.

On the other hand, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who traveled to Asturias, opted for caution and alluded to climate change, although he pointed out that the origin of the fires is being investigated. From China, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, affirmed that if it is confirmed that there were people who deliberately planted the fires, their behavior "will not go unpunished."

This crisis in Asturias in 2023, with its extension to Cantabria as well, after a few days of exceptionally high temperatures on the Cantabrian coast at this time of the year, is almost mimetic in reminiscent of that in Galicia in October 2017, with the difference that In the Galician case there were fatalities, something that has not happened this time. It was a very fast, unexpected, explosive phenomenon, under exceptional weather conditions, caused by the remnants of a tropical storm. Nearly 50,000 hectares burned in one weekend, which is unprecedented in this century. And, as had not happened before, the flames entered the largest city in Galicia, in Vigo, while the then president of the Xunta, the popular Alberto Núñez Feijóo, spoke of a terrorism that was never heard of again.

Neither October nor March are part of the normal fire season in the north of the Peninsula, which are concentrated in the summer and the weeks before and after. Thus, the extinguishing devices are not at full capacity. And lately a new type of fire has appeared, much more explosive and uncontrolled.