Several major wildfires burn uncontrolled in one region of Spain with locals evacuated and main roads affected

If the situation was already complicated on Saturday evening in the province of León in Spain, since last night it has become even more so. Of the four level 1 fires, two of them have been upgraded to level 2; of the seven active fires now burning in the province. The longest-lived of them all - active since Friday - is the one still burning in the La Cabrera area, in the municipality of Benuza.

"It hasn't reached us yet, but if it is not extinguished by tonight we will have to evacuate the village," said Domingo Cabo, the mayor of Benuza, saddened by the fire that has been approaching Llamas de Cabrera for two days: "It is very widespread and it is burning strongly".

Although in the information provided by the Junta there is no probable cause of the fire, the council leader reported that lightning is the main hypothesis being worked on, as "there was a storm on Friday afternoon and some lightning strikes" in an area "which is impossible to reach even on foot".

Almost 50 firefighting units were working on the fire and in the early hours of the morning there were still close to thirty. Although it seemed that progress was being made in its control, the orographic difficulties of the area have led to the maintenance of an extensive surveillance and extinguishing efforts with the BRIF of Tabuyo among the displaced units as well as the Soria de Lubia.

An emergency planning committee, after meeting last night and this morning in the Junta in León region, reported that in the Llamas de Cabrera fire, which is a mountain area with a large amount of scrubland that with the high temperatures and low humidity at the moment which has become fuel that burns easily. Furthermore, extinguishing the fire is complicated by the steep slope and the presence of Roman canals that used to carry water to Las Médulas.

In this incident, which Spain's emergency military init (UME) joined during the night in addition to the Orallo fire (level 1), the extinguishing work continued and the accesses to Las Médulas were cut off to facilitate the work of the fire-fighting operation and to avoid possible risks to the population, in addition to the evacuation of Yeres during the afternoon.

"It was a good decision," Julio Arias, mayor of Puente de Domingo Flórez, told Leonoticias : "It is a small town, everyone was gathered in the square and the evacuation was quick. It was possible to extinguish the few fires that broke out near the houses".

The civic leader added that the situation seemed very serious at around two or three in the morning, but that "thanks to the spectacular work of the brigades and the UME, everything is now much calmer. What you can see from the village right now - at ten o'clock in the morning - is much less flames and smoke. The troops must have done their job and the situation has improved a lot after it was out of control yesterday".

The fire, which originated near a path that surrounds Las Medulas, did not advance towards the south, where this World Heritage Site is located: "It does not seem to have affected any of the viewpoints such as Reirigo and Orellán, nor Las Médulas itself", added Julio Arias, who also believes that "level 2 is being maintained to facilitate the work of the fire-fighting teams" because "everything is much better".

Both areas, in addition to presenting a risk to some population centres and infrastructures, are in places of high heritage and environmental value.

In addition to the two fires that are of most concern because of their effect on the population and natural areas, there are two others that are at a lower level of alert.

Both the Orallo and Fasgar fires originated last Friday and on Saturday reached level 1 severity declared by the Junta. It is believed that lightning may have been the cause of both fires and extraordinary resources have also been deployed, such as the UME, which has been working on the Orallo fire since Saturday night, and the BRIF from Pinofranqueado in Cáceres on the Fasgar fire since Sunday morning.

Regional Junta teams are working in the area as well as fifty military personnel and 22 UME resources; it is similar to the deployment in Yeres with56 military personnel and 25 UME vehicles, where there are also plans to deploy two more helicopter water carriers. In Llamas de Cabrera, the Ministry's ACO is scheduled to define hot spots with a thermal camera; and in Fasgar there is a Guardia Civil patrol, a BRIF water bomber and a ground crew. Seven BRIF aerial resources are also scheduled to arrive.

After the CECOPI emergency committee meeting at midday this Sunday, it was commented that, as in Llamas de Cabrera and Yeres, the fires in Orallo and Fasgar are purely forest fires that "require time to be extinguished due to the availability of fuel, and the need for extinguishing tasks involving a lot of ground work".

In addition, the CECOPI commented that "the atmospheric instability forecast for Sunday afternoon is a cause for concern, although the evolution of the last two fires - Orallo and Fasgar - has been somewhat more favourable in the last few hours".

The last one to break out, which for the moment is located in Villaverde de los Cestos, in the municipality of Castropodame, has forced the National VI motorway to be closed between kilometres 370 and 380 due to smoke. A lack of visibility is also affecting the A-6, but for the moment there are no restrictions.

In addition to this one, three other fires are still active in Filiel, Cabañas de la Dornilla and Anllares del Sil.