The fire that affects the north of Cáceres since last Wednesday night, which began in the municipality of Pinofranqueado and affects not only Las Hurdes, but also the Sierra de Gata, continues at level 2 of danger and the extinction teams that working to control the fire face another long night.
The estimate of the area already devastated by the fire is about 8,500 hectares, according to the latest data provided throughout the day this Friday.
It is a figure very similar to the fire that devastated the Sierra de Gata and Las Hurdes regions 20 years ago, with the difference that the area affected in 2003 was the result of several days of flames while now it is "only 48 hours". .
The operation has the support of a battalion of the Military Emergency Unit and a total of more than 275 people, as reported by the Junta de Extremadura in a press release.
During the night of this Friday, eleven units of the Extremadura Forest Fire Extinguishing Plan (Infoex), ten bulldozers, five technicians and six agents of the natural environment will work to extinguish this fire.
Last morning, the fire continued with its "virulent and out of control" behavior, entering through the Sierra de Gata to the Valle del Árrago, where the towns of Cadalso, Descargamaría and Robledillo de Gata were evacuated in a preventive manner. The strong wind and the lack of visibility derived from the night hours complicated the work of the numerous land units that were working against the forest fire that is ravaging the north of the province of Cáceres.
The residents of these towns were transferred to municipal facilities in Moraleja, while the fire is still active, at level 2 of emergencies and out of the capacity of extinction by the media displaced in the area.
During this Friday, the troops have continued to fight against the fire. Of course, this afternoon, the general director of Emergencies, Civil Protection and Interior of the Junta de Extremadura, Nieves Villar, has indicated that the extinction operation is "optimistic" with the global situation of the fire, but has pointed out that the evicted They will spend tonight outside their houses.
"Right now we are optimistic with the global situation of the fire, there are many media, which does not mean that the fire is considered controlled, stabilized, or anything, or that people have to return to their homes," said Nieves Villar. .
The general director of Emergencies has also insisted that the fire has been "provoked" and has added that it is important that the residents of the area "do not want" to travel on the roads of Árrago, because it is where there is "greater density of media" and where the evacuated municipalities are, for which he has said that the roads cut "are the same."
For its part, the PSOE has communicated the postponement of the central campaign event that the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was going to celebrate this afternoon in Badajoz with the President of the Junta and candidate for re-election, Guillermo Fernández Vara, and the head of list to the mayor of Badajoz, Ricardo Cabezas, due to the complications of the fire.
Also in a political key, the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has accused the Government of Extremadura of the "spread of the fire" that has devastated some 8,500 hectares in Las Hurdes and Sierra de Gata.
