Guardia Civil takes four statements in connection with forest fire in Castellon and Teruel

Four people have given statements to the Guardia Civil in connection with the huge forest fire that is burning out of control in Castellon and Teruel.

UPDATE: Sunday, March 26 at 4:20am

As explained by Pilar Bernabe, the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, the Guardia Civil has taken statements from four individuals in connection with the forest fire that is currently burning in Castellon and Teruel.

Speaking with the media on Saturday 25, she confirmed that the ‘human factor’ was responsible for the origin of the blaze. Apparently ‘some maintenance work’ was being carried out in the area at the time the fire broke out, although she refused to specify whether the four were municipal workers.

Bernabe insisted that the investigation was still open, and asked the public to wait ‘until all the hypotheses can be closed’, and from there, to await the conclusions of the Guardia Civil, as reported by levante-emv.com.

UPDATE: Saturday, March 25 at 5:59pm

The forest fire that is currently raging in Castellon and Teruel is said to be burning out of control along a 40km perimeter. It has reportedly already devoured more than 4,000 hectares as it continues to spread. Around 1,500 residents have been evacuated from their homes as a precaution, as reported by 20minutos.es.

This information was revealed by Gabriela Bravo, the Minister of Justice and the Interior, during her press briefing late last night, Friday, March 24, held at the Advanced Command Post, in Barracas. The presidents of the Valencian and Aragonese governments, Ximo Puig and Javier Lamban, respectively, are due to visit the area today, Saturday 25.

Manuel Villanueva, the technical director of extinction at the Advanced Command Post confirmed that: “a medium-long term strategy is planned if the fire worsens”. He explained that: “heavy ravines are feeding the fire, which makes it difficult to deploy resources around the perimeter”.

UPDATE: Saturday, March 25 at 0:45am

The Guardia Civil is said to be investigating four individuals in connection with the huge forest fire that is currently blazing in the Castellon municipality of Villanueva de Viver, according to abc.es.

The four suspects are thought to have been operating a brushcutter machine that was working on cleaning tasks in Villanueva de Viver. Sparks from the machine could have ignited the fire, according to the first investigations by the force.

In her latest press update, Gabriela Bravo, the Minister of Justice and the Interior of the autonomous administration of the Generalitat revealed that at least 4,000 hectares are estimated to have been devastated by the flames. She said that firefighters will continue to work through the night with reinforcements expected to arrive in the morning.

The Guardia Civil has reported evacuating nearly 1,800 people from eight different towns in the area.

UPDATE: Friday, March 24 at 8pm

As reported this afternoon, Friday, March 24, by Gabriela Bravo, the Minister of Justice and the Interior of the autonomous administration of the Generalitat, the Villanueva de Viver forest fire continues to spread uncontrolled. It has already destroyed an estimated 3,500 hectares and currently affects a radius of 30km.

Shortly before 3pm, the Bravo indicated that there are about 500 people working, about a hundred more than there were at midday today.

Speaking to reporters earlier today, she told them: “More than 400 professionals continue to work on #IFVillanuevaViver , which has affected more than 3,000 hectares. We are still very aware of the weather forecast that could activate the fire this afternoon. Much caution”.

Fire crews battled the huge blaze throughout the night, as can be seen in posts on social media from the various emergency services involved in the operation.

According to Emergencies 112CV this lunchtime: “Until 12:35 p.m. the aerial resources of the Generalitat that work on extinction have carried out 221 downloads since they began. To these discharges must also be added those carried out by the means of @mapagob and @GobAragon to stabilise the fire”.

UPDATE: Thursday, March 23 at 11:59pm

As reported by Emergencies 112CV this evening, Thursday 23, another two towns have been evacuated as a result of the large fire that is burning in the Castellon municipality of Villanueva de Viver.

In a tweet, it wrote: “The WFP orders the eviction of the towns of Montan and Arañuel. 2 buses are sent to Montan and 2 to Arañuel. One of the buses will distribute people from the Montan nursing home. Red Cross will set up a shelter in Onda to receive the evicted from Arañuel”.

Ximo Puig, the President of the Generalitat commented: “It was a very voracious fire at the beginning and it has had a very powerful action that has definitely meant that in a short time, we are talking about 800 to 1000 hectares of the perimeter”.

He tweeted @ximopuig: “Difficult moments. The emergency teams will continue working all night against the Alto Mijares fire. Tomorrow they will be joined by 18 aerial means. We hope that the evicted residents can return to their homes as soon as possible. The most important thing: human lives”.

Thursday, March 23 at 7:06pm

A huge forest fire that broke out in the Castellon municipality of Villanueva de Viver earlier this afternoon, Thursday, March 23, has already forced the evacuation of several towns, as reported by levante-emv.com.

The flames are said to be spreading rapidly, with firefighters from the Castellon Provincial Consortium in attendance. They have been joined by forestry personnel from the Valencian Generalitat. Due to the proximity of the flames and the virulence of the fire, the residents of several municipalities have been instructed to leave their homes as a precaution.

At around 6pm, a total of fifteen aerial means were battling the flames from above. On the ground, 10 units of the Generalitat’s forest firefighters were in action, along with nine fire engines, 3 crews from the Castello Provincial Firefighters Consortium, three forestry coordinators, three environmental agents, seven Generalitat air vehicles, and three helicopters. In addition, the UME has deployed 74 soldiers and 19 military vehicles.

According to the latest data provided by the Generalitat Valenciana, the area burned by the fire has already reached 600 hectares in just three hours.

At 6:16pm, Emergencies 112CV tweeted that a sixth town, Montanejos, had been evacuated by order of the WFP director of the Villanueva de Viver Forest Fire department.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast is certainly not going to help with extinguishing the blaze. In fact, the heat and lack of humidity have triggered the risk of more forest fires in the interior of the provinces of Castellon and Valencia.

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