Home Costa Blanca The Fire Beast of Vall d’Ebo

The Fire Beast of Vall d’Ebo

by Loraine Gostling

Most people reading this will be very aware of the tragedy this week – the huge and hellish fire just 45 km west of Javea in the Vall d’Ebo district.

This is a short record of events taken from the updates on our Facebook Information page, for those who may not have followed the progress as reported by every news channel, not just locally or in Spain, but internationally.

Saturday August 13th

Fire broke out at 9.40 pm in and is continuing to spread. From reading local reports on Twitter, it is possible that it was started by a lightning bolt.

All efforts are focused on preventing the fire from reaching the Vall de Gallinera. At the moment, and as reported by the Alicante Firefighters Consortium, 1,500 hectares of vegetation and pine forest burned by the following morning.

Sunday 14th August

At 12:00 noon flames were heading for the Vall de la Gallinarea and several air vehicles were sent to discharge water on the area. Extinction work continued relentlessly to control the fire and stop the advance and fall towards the Vall de Gallinera.

UPDATE 14/8/22 AT 16.18

Several homes in Pego have been evicted due to the advance of the Vall d’Ebo fire. https://lamarinaalta.com/…/desalojan-varias-viviendas…/

UPDATE 14.8.22. AT 8.40PM

The fire has now burned more than 3,500 hectares so far. The changing wind and the difficulties of access to the burning areas are hindering the extinction taskforce.

More than 200 troops continue to fight tonight to control the fire in Les Valls.

Civil Protection volunteers from several towns in the region (Benissa, Gata de Gorgos, Pedreguer and Benidoleig) have also joined the extinction tasks.

The fire continues to advance and burns a large part of Les Valls de la Marina Alta. This has forced the residents of the areas near the flames to leave their homes. The inhabitants of the municipalities of Benirrama and Benialí have been transferred to Pego, a town that has provided different municipal facilities to become a shelter.

UPDATE 14.8.22 AT 10.40 PM

UPDATE 15/8/22 – 19.00.

After the coordination meeting at the PMA of #IFVallDeEbo it has been decided to evacuate the towns of Tollos, Beniaia, Fageca and Famorca.

The flames have continued to destroy everything in its path!. The virulence of this forest fire has forced the emergency services to evacuate more than a thousand people among the residents of the districts of Benialí, Benirrama and the towns of Vall d’Alcalà and L’Atzúbia. In this sense, some urbanizations in Pego and some houses in Castell de Castells (in the latter town almost a hundred houses) were also evicted due to the danger for their inhabitants.

Update 15/2/22 AT 18.00

After the coordination meeting at the PMA of #IFVallDeEbo it has been decided to evacuate the towns of Tollos, Beniaia, Fageca and Famorca. The Red Cross is preparing the hostel in Muro d’Alcoi.

In the meantime, another fire had broken out in Gata de Gorgos gorge at 14.30 ON 15th August

A fire has broken out in the Gata de Gorgos gorge, on the border between Gata and Teulada.

For the time being, the first Fire and Civil Protection units from both Gata de Gorgos and Teulada Moraira have been deployed.

Initial information indicates that the flames started in the quarry itself in a space that is used as a municipal cardboard deposit.

The flames have spread to the adjacent hill and the rapid spread has worried the nearby residents of the affected area, who saw the large white smoke that could be seen in the distance.

Officers of Dénia Fire Station are the ones who are currently fighting against the scrub flames that are active in the municipality of Teulada, since the rest of the troops (firefighters) are in the fire that affects in the interior of the Marina Alta region in the Vall d’Ebo.

UPDATE 7PM: At this time, despite not having an official confirmation, the fire that has affected low and wooded scrub is about to be controlled. The troops of the Provincial Consortium have been able to load water for the trucks in a hydrant near the institute and have even used the water from the pool of a house near the flames.

Fortunately, this one was soon extinguished.

For all of those that remember the devastating 2016 fires in Javea, this is now ELEVEN times the size!! 😢

On Wednesday 17th August THE RAIN ARRIVED!!! 🙂

Thursday 18th August Update from the Bomberos

Thanks to yesterday’s rain we were able to make progress in the extinction of the Vall d’Ebo fire but there is still a lot of work ahead, we share images from last night in Benimassot that show that we cannot let our guard down.

FINALLY – ON FRIDAY 19TH AUGUST AT 10.00 AM

To see the most up to date news – and for all other news regarding fires and adverse weather conditions, please join this group, run voluntarily by Jo Howard.

MARINA ALTA FIRE ALERTS

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