The Pinofranqueado fire advances uncontrollably and the level of danger rises

The members of the Extremadura Forest Fire Fighting Plan (Infoex) continue working on the forest fire declared this Wednesday in the municipality of Pinofranqueado, in the Las Hurdes region of Cáceres.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
22 May 2023 Monday 13:31
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The Pinofranqueado fire advances uncontrollably and the level of danger rises

The members of the Extremadura Forest Fire Fighting Plan (Infoex) continue working on the forest fire declared this Wednesday in the municipality of Pinofranqueado, in the Las Hurdes region of Cáceres.

The fire, which has several active sources, has been proclaimed as dangerous level 2, and the commanders of the extinction operation have described the situation of the fire in its western part as "critical". Late this Thursday, the preventive removal of the residents of Torrecilla (Cáceres) closest to the fire has been ordered.

The fire originated around 10:00 p.m. with a first outbreak in the vicinity of La Muela, and shortly after a second outbreak broke out in Sauceda. Everything indicates that it was intentional.

Two bulldozers, 15 trucks and 15 Infoex units, the Pinofranqueado Brif and three CPEI trucks, six Civil Guard patrols, as well as the Red Cross with four provisioning vehicles and two ambulances have been working to extinguish the fire since this morning. , and throughout the day media have been incorporated until reaching 200 troops.

The flames are still active and with an "unfavorable" evolution: there is a great possibility that they will cause damage to the towns of Robledo, Avellanar or La Muela. For this reason, at first, level 1 of danger has been activated, which has subsequently risen to 2.

The fire is already in the Sierra de Gata, a region to which Torrecilla de los Ángeles belongs.

The president of the Junta de Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, has shown his "concern" about the evolution of the fire in the Las Hurdes region, but he wanted to convey his support to the residents of the towns in the area near the fire.

"The Infoex Plan continues to work on the extinguishing work on the Pinofranqueado fire. The work has focused on several different sources in the area," the Board communicated during this early Thursday morning.

On the other hand, the area councilor, Begoña García Bernal, wanted to go to the Infoex Regional Operations Center (COR) in Cáceres to closely follow the evolution of the fire.

Likewise, the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, has offered help to Extremadura for the forest fire. "All our solidarity with Extremadura, we have offered them all our collaboration, we have made all the means available," he said at a PP rally in Salamanca.

And he added: "I hope that (the President of the Government) Pedro Sánchez does not go to Extremadura to say that it is the fault of climate change and that later his ministers say that in Castilla y León it is the fault of the Junta, because this time we are not swallow, we will not tolerate or consent".