The fire burns so far about a thousand hectares in the provinces of Teruel and Castellón

The 250 people evacuated in Olba and San Agustín have been rehoused in catering establishments and in private homes

ZARAGOZA, 23 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Great Forest Fire (GIF) declared this Thursday in the municipality of Villanueva de Viver, in the province of Castellón, which has reached the province of Teruel around noon and has devastated a perimeter of around a thousand hectares. A hundred troops, including ten ground crews and seven fire trucks from the Aragon Fire Prevention and Extinction Operation (INFOAR), will work during the night on extinction tasks.

The Minister of the Presidency and Institutional Relations of the Government of Aragon, Mayte Pérez, has indicated, after a meeting of the Operational Coordination Center (CECOP), in which she has participated electronically, that the fire "is important" in terms of magnitude and, therefore, due to the intensity and risk of the smoke it has generated, it has been decided to evict 250 people from the municipalities of Olba and San Agustín in Teruel.

He explained that, during the afternoon, the troops deployed to the site of the fire have focused on defining the perimeter, although the exact hectares affected are not yet known. On the other hand, the regional councilor has observed that the area is "very complicated", in a ravine and "evidently a powder keg to ignite".

However, he pointed out that the weather conditions "are not unfavorable". Pérez has said that the left flank is the one that affects the Aragonese autonomous community.

At around 12:50 p.m., the Government of Aragon received the notice and sent three light helicopters, four helicopter crews, three fire trucks, bulldozers, five ground crews, an advanced command post with an emergency technician and three GADEX technicians from Operation for the Prevention and Extinction of Fires in Aragon (INFOAR). Likewise, the Provincial Council of Teruel (DPT) has provided six fire trucks, a water pump and two light vehicles.

The Government of Aragon has declared Level 1 of the Special Emergency Civil Protection Plan (PROCINFO), in Operational Situation 1, and has ordered the preventive eviction of the town of Olba and several farmhouses and small towns in San Agustín. In total, around 250 people have been evacuated, who have been rehoused in catering establishments, mainly in Venta del Aire, and in private homes.

Also, with the collaboration of the Red Cross and the volunteers, 70 beds are being set up in the Albentosa sports hall, and many others are available in case it is necessary to set up more places to accommodate evacuees. On the other hand, it has been necessary to cut the A-232 road, which gives access to Olba.

Level 1 of the Special Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires in Aragon (PROCINFO) corresponds to those fires in which there is a need to implement specific and specific measures to protect people's health or to Isolated assets threatened, such as supply networks or isolated buildings.

For its part, Operational Situation 1 indicates the existence of an extraordinary emergency caused by one or several forest fires that, in their foreseeable evolution, may seriously affect forest-based assets or slightly affect the population and non-forest-based assets and be controlled. with the means and resources of the Plan, being able to incorporate extraordinary means at the request of the Autonomous Community.

In the early hours of this Friday, March 24, a new meeting of the CECOP is scheduled to analyze the situation of the forest fire after the performance during the night.