Put out the fire and uncertainty in Casas de Moya

Felicidad Jiménez has lost her joy.

At 77 years old, “Felis” has all her past in Casas de Moya.

In her memory, he says that these last days full of sadness will be engraved on fire.

Through the window she saw all the almond and olive trees that populate the landscape of this district of the Valencian municipality of Venta del Moro burn on Monday afternoon.

The fire had been declared on Sunday and seemed stabilized, but the northeast wind, especially from Levante, revived the flames that reached the rural properties closest to the village.

There are already more than 1,300 hectares -about 40 kilometers in perimeter- the area affected.

A part of it is located within the Hoces de Cabriel natural park, although it has been ruled out that it has entered the nature reserve, the area of ​​greatest value.

The disaster has suddenly withered Felicidad's great satisfaction: the smell of rosemary and strawberry trees that accompanied her since she was a child.

Despite having 5% vision -she cannot distinguish beyond half a meter- this morning she got up early to look for thyme in the park of the health center.

She clings to the walls and windows, she walks along the sidewalks and stops when she senses someone's footsteps.

Nervous, she asks a neighbor who passes by:

-Is there a lot of fire?

- I have burned half.

Until the garage door came.

We're all tight-assed, Felis.

The woman was one of the few people who, when things got complicated, decided to leave her house and leave.

“I went to Requena with some of the people.

I took two towels, a bra, some panties and this dress with black flowers like the mountain you see”.

Felicidad Jiménez, at the door of her house in the village of Casas de Moya. DAVID EXPÓSITO

According to Josep Maria Àngel, regional secretary for Security and head of the fires, at the moment "there are two critical areas, the white southwest and the northwest, where the head of the fire is located."

Early in the morning, an infrared drone has traveled over the affected area and both ground and air activity have been reactivated.

Àngel is optimistic, although he acknowledges that "it still needs to stabilize, which will mean that the perimeter no longer varies."

The bells ring, striking eleven in the morning.

A dozen people gather in the church square, each whispering and commenting on what they have lost.

Rosario Sánchez (68 years old) arrives in the distance, entertaining herself with some stray cats while she sobs after verifying that even the dirt soccer field has been burned.

“Everything burned!

The trees we have lived with, all dead.

Before this was colored and now I only see black”, she says as she wipes away her tears and returns home.

The flames did not enter the houses.

Burned trees on the outskirts of Casas de Moya. DAVID EXPÓSITO

Group of people gather to talk about the fire in the Casas de Moya church square. DAVID EXPÓSITO

Complaints from neighbors

They all agree on the same complaint: they acted too late.

The mayor of the village, Ricardo Yeves Ortiz (73 years old), affirms that "there has been a lack of coordination since Monday at 2 in the afternoon."

At noon, Yeves received reassurance messages until “suddenly they tell me that the sick and those with heart problems or asthma must be evicted.

The fire had crossed the Cañá well and reached the garages.

They were wrong or they trusted, I don't know."

“We have a monumental anger, it is devastating to see that your life is burning and you can not do anything.

Even more so if you don't act on time, ”says Pilar Martínez (67 years old) while she walks with her friend Elena Pardo (72 years old) the outskirts of the district.

The ground, completely burned, still gives off the heat of the flames.

"I've been crying for a few days.

With

to calm me down and without being able to sleep ”, she sentences.

The women approach the entrance of Casa de Moya when they recognize Pepe López (76 years old), who fled the town in a hurry in his Ford Fiesta with his wife.

-Pepe, only the banks have been saved!

-To sit and watch.

López, who is not a “bar man”, goes to the garage to release the chickens while flies land on his cap.

“So many flies, a storm.

Let's hope it's just water, we already have enough misfortune ”, he sentences.

Pepe López, a resident of Casas de Moya, sitting on a bench in the town after having left for a night due to the threat of fire. DAVID EXPÓSITO

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