The fire in the Las Hurdes region of Cáceres continues without control after the eviction of 400 people

The very high temperatures, the intense wind and the drought of the land are fueling the uncontrolled fire in the north of Cáceres, in the Las Hurdes region, which has caused the eviction of hundreds of residents from different localities since the fire began this Monday afternoon.

The flames have jumped to the province of Salamanca, where the residents of several southern municipalities are abandoning their homes due to the proximity of the fronts.

Castilla y León has requested the help of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to reinforce its forestry devices.

The fire has so far affected more than 2,500 hectares in Extremadura and some 1,000 in Salamanca, as reported by the Minister of Agriculture of Extremadura, Begoña García Bernal.

Some 400 people from six towns have been transferred to Montehermoso (Cáceres), Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca) and private homes, according to the Minister of Agriculture in Extremadura.

Four firefighters have been treated for minor injuries and no damage to homes has transpired, except for some corralones.

The Environmental Department of the Junta de Extremadura (PSOE) has reported that the heat, the low humidity and the gusts lead to a "complex extinction" of the Ladrillar fire, declared a level 2 out of 3 alert, and translated into the preventive eviction of some 400 residents of the Cáceres municipalities of Ladrillar and its farmstead of Cabezo;

the districts of Aceitunilla and Batuequillas, dependent on Nuñomoral, and the farmstead of Horcajo, dependent on Pinofranqueado.

According to these authorities, this fire has burned more than 2,500 hectares and has spread to the province of Salamanca.

The Junta de Castilla y León (PP) has indicated that there are some 1,000 hectares burned in Monsagro, where half a thousand inhabitants have been evacuated, while in Candelario the fire has devastated another 500 hectares.

9:17 |

#IFLadrillar #Caceres

The companions of @BRIF_PINO RD and is on base after acting in the #IF

👉 They carried out firefighting, a maneuver that requires time and planning.

They anchored in the river.

Good luck and good rest mates!

pic.twitter.com/6kDlhn6oxw

— ATBRIF (@AT_Brif) July 12, 2022

The forecasts point to a drop in night temperatures and a decrease in the winds so that the ground brigades can act while the air brigades will wait for dawn.

The spotlights have caused long columns of smoke that make it difficult for seaplanes to see.

Three fire chiefs display maps in one of the few shady spots offered by Vega de Coria (Cáceres).

Those responsible for the team waiting for instructions compare this detailed cartography with the GPS of a tablet and draw up the action plan.

The leaders have marked water points, located firebreaks and defined peaks in this mountainous area of ​​northern Extremadura.

“The black is the perimeter of the fire”, they detail the two dozen colleagues.

"Other colleagues have had a little scare and an area has gotten out of control," they warn the group, who has behind them an extensive column of smoke visible from the roads for many kilometers.

The heat and wind aggravate the fire and give strength to his last warning before facing the flames: "The main objective is our safety and then we will do what we can."

The convoy leaves through the narrow roads of these places near the Sierra de Francia, between Cáceres and Salamanca, two provinces affected by the fire unleashed this Monday afternoon after an electrical storm.

The more than 40 degrees that have been registered this Tuesday have dried up the land, with complex orography, and have allowed the fronts to expand and threaten several localities.

The tense silence of the area is only interrupted by the sails of the seaplanes and the vehicles of the firefighters or the Civil Guard, which prevent access to the evacuated towns.

While specialists work with their hoses and firebreaks, people from Extremadura and Salamanca wait for news with resignation.

Martín Martín, 68, talks with the civil guards who prevent access to Aceitunilla.

This retired firefighter looks up at the bush, where there are large black areas and incipient wisps of gray smoke that can be sniffed depending on the direction of the wind.

"The fire is a kilometer away, but we believe that it will not come from the direction of the wind," predicts this old soldier against the fire.

The drought and the more than 42 degrees of these days, with nights that do not cool the soil, and forests with many uncontrolled bushes propitiate, according to his words, that these episodes increase.

The main fear comes from ranchers with the pasture of their animals at risk,

although at the moment there is no evidence of material or personal damage.

The businesses that live in the natural areas of Las Hurdes await news with tension, such as Janet Aznar, 25, who has gone to the guards to find out news about the fire that causes fear in the users of the

run by his family: "How's everything up there?"

bar

in Nuñomoral, one kilometer from that intersection, serves as a forum to discuss the fire.

Elvira Iglesias, 82, comments that from her window she saw that fire "which is a fear" and that triggered her eviction.

She now waits at a relative's house to be allowed to return home and see again, as soon as possible, clear skies without the smoke that smudges the skies.