The fire caused the eviction of several houses and a gas station, cutting off traffic on the A-52 and the N-525 | Rural Environment requested citizen collaboration in the face of an incident that sought to “do the greatest possible damage”
The flames revived this Wednesday the nightmare in Ourense. After a restless night for the firefighting personnel who worked on a fire that burned 150 hectares in Castro de Escuadra (Maceda), a fire with a clear intentionality sowed chaos in Verín and threatened population centers. the fire, which devoured 400 hectares in five hours, forced traffic to be cut off on the A-52 and N-525 motorways and to evacuate several homes and the Ábedes gas station. The flames also entered the Sousas Factory compound and burned boxes with bottles.
The fire started shortly before 3 p.m. in full yellow alert for high temperatures, with three simultaneous outbreaks in the vicinity of the San Antón neighborhood. The flames, very close to the houses, immediately forced situation 2 to be declared as a preventive measure in view of the risk to the population and houses of O Polvorín, which later spread to the entire perimeter as it is a territory with scattered houses. In places like A Rasela there were moments of great tension due to the proximity of the fire.
The wind and the heat raised the concern and the Verin mayor, Gerardo Seoane, confirmed that it was necessary to evacuate a group of houses in Ábedes. The situation, which already started with a high level of alert, got worse caused by “total intentionality”, in the words of the Ministry of Rural Affairs, which requested citizen collaboration through its Twitter account to find the person. or people responsible for this fire: “Right now: three sources of light next to the houses in Verín, with a temperature of 40º and wind changes. A totally intentional lume, seeking to do or do as much damage as possible to people and benefits. You are suspected calquera, anonymous and free claim no 900 815 085 & rdquor ;, published the ministry in the middle of the afternoon.
Simultaneity of fires
Shortly after, there were already more than a dozen outbreaks that surrounded the town and aggravated a fire that the extinction troops themselves described as “very complicated & rdquor; Y “worrying & rdquor; and to which other fires were added in Calvos de Randín, Entrimo, A Mezquita, Monterrei, Chandrexa de Queixa and Vilariño de Conso, and others in Galicia such as Mourentán, in Arbo (Pontevedra). The simultaneity of all these incidents once again led to the exhaustion of the firefighting service personnel who carry a summer of exhausting activity on their backs. In Verín, a member of the BRIF of Laza had to be evacuated to the hospital due to heat stroke, and he was stable, according to his colleagues.
The intentionality of this fire is clear and the mayor affirmed it, Gerardo Seoane, who recounted in the afternoon how the multiple foci emerged, one after another. “Needless to say, it is clearly seen. The fire started near the resort of Cabreiroá and San Antón to Ábedes. It entered the Sousas factory and affected some plastic boxes. More outbreaks appeared towards the north, in A Rasela and Vilamaior and then descending, towards Tintores and Caldeliñas”. And all the spotlights, warned the extinction troops, “very close to the houses & rdquor ;.
The virulence of this fire, which spread very quickly and at the close of the edition was heading towards Vilardevos, caused cuts in the A-52 motorway, at kilometer 157, and in the N-525, at point 165, due to to the intensity of the smoke.
Two technicians, four agents, 14 brigades, seven motorized pumps, two shovels, seven airplanes and nine helicopters worked on the extinction.
A car turning on one bulb after another
The Minister of Rural Affairs, José González, traveled to the area affected by the Verín fire and asked for citizen collaboration to “stop these heartless & rdquor ;, in reference to the authors of this disaster. The images taken from the firefighting helicopters in which the different sources can be seen, he said, “prove that it was a moving car & rdquor; who caught them.
He disapproved of the seriousness of this event, which began with three outbreaks near the town of Verín, “so that we could bring the means to protect the houses, and from then on two other outbreaks that are giving us many problems, which were placed in a forest area and that they caused the national highway and the highway to be cut off & rdquor ;.
At the moment, the councilor said late in the afternoon, “we are working with all air and land resources defending the territory, the houses and villages, and we are going to try to put out the fire.” Media from Portugal also joined the operation. At this point, he called for awareness and asked the public for “any information & rdquor ;, no matter how small, that could lead to the identification and arrest of those responsible.