Date Published: 31/08/2020
ARCHIVED - Fire between Mula and Bullas declared under control
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
300-360 hectares have been burnt and the Military Emergencies Unit is withdrawing
At midday the command centre overseeing the forest fire in the Sierra de la Silla announced that the fire which started on Saturday evening and has burnt between 300 and 360 hectares of land, is now considered to be under control.
Firecrews worked through the night again last night and at first light efforts intensified to close down the active fronts of the fire.
Environmental agents, 6 forestry brigades, Firefighters of the Murcia Regional Fire Extinction and Rescue Consortium, auxiliaries, a command unit and 2 helicopters provided by the regional government were all on site, supported by Civil Protection Volunteers from the municipalities of Mula, Cehegín and Bullas, a section of Battalion III of the Military Emergencies Unit, with 2 helicopters and forestry brigades sent by the national Government.
At 12.00 the fire was declared “stabilized” and the two helicopters and forestry brigades of the national Government were stood down and the Military Emergencies Unit is scheduled to begin its demobilization at 14:00 providing there are no further developments.
Generally, fire crews from the regional fire services and forestry brigades will continue to damp down for at least 24 hours, checking for new fires, as it’s normal for many smaller fires to break out within 100 metres or so of any burnt areas due to the wind. Any smouldering clumps of grass are manually covered in earth with mattocks; backbreaking work.
Investigations will now begin to ascertain how the fire started. Lightning strike has already been ruled out and it’s believed that the fire could have been started by “agricultural activity” which usually means illegal burning of prunings.
At the peak of the fire on Sunday more than 350 people were working to extinguish it.
It’s absolutely terrifying when fire breaks out like this near to your own home; it happened last year at the end of the valley where we ourselves live, and that feeling of helplessness and trepidation was something I hope never to repeat, but helps to ram home that “civil awareness” that now makes me stop and pick up glass bottles left lying on the roadside and more than once has resulted in me getting out of the car and shouting at some ignorant motorist who threw a cigarette butt out of the window in front of me.
Thank goodness for firemen and environmental agents!
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