Huelva fire brought under control allowing 417 evacuees to return home

Moreno explained that the fire, which broke out on 6 August, had spread over a perimeter of 210 kilometres.

Following the stabilisation of the fire, the situation has downgraded from operational level 2 to level 1. Personnel from the military emergency unit (UME) began their withdrawal on Sunday, alongside other state resources.

According to Moreno's announcement, the stabilisation of the fire happened at 10.30am, following 36 continuous hours of monitoring during which the emergency workers detected no hotspots or flames within a perimeter of 210 kilometres.

While the return of evacuees to their homes is good news, the regional president called for "caution" given the presence of "hotspots" that crews will continue to gradually cool down.

According to Moreno, it will take a few weeks to completely extinguish the fire, which he declared "one of the most difficult of the last decade".

He explained that the "constant and relentless ferocity" of the flames had pushed the emergency services "to the point of exhaustion" in their efforts to contain this "beast".

Moreno highlighted the "efforts" of the emergency services. He said that, at the time of this incident, personnel from the Infoca plan had to respond to 17 other fires across the region.

"This requires a very significant deployment," Moreno said, referring to all the emergency and security services, as well as the volunteers involved in each operation. The regional president thanked them for their "dedication, commitment and professionalism".

He also emphasised the "efficiency" of the technical work, noting that the emergency services were able to capitalise on the "first window of opportunity in terms of weather conditions" to stem the advance of the flames.

According to Moreno, this significantly helped decrease the damaged area. The authorities have identified intact "islands" of up to 400 hectares within the perimeter, pending the final report from the Copernicus satellite.

The fire has affected more than 38,000 hectares, although the final assessment will determine exactly how much land has burnt.

The president of the regional government praised the work of the Mayor of Niebla, local councillors, the Huelva provincial authority and the Huelva and Seville fire services.

Moreno also highlighted the collaboration of various emergency services and authorities and the importance of inter-administrative coordination.

He appealed to the public to exercise "the utmost caution" for the remainder of the summer and pointed out that "96 per cent of fires are caused by human activity, whether by action or omission".

Moreno warned that the high temperatures of this summer are set to persist into autumn.

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