HOUSEHOLDS EVACUATED AFTER FIRE

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The dense smoke and flames spread on Tuesday across the Vega de Acá and Nueva Almería, in the zone of Camino Jaúl Bajo.

The fire, reported in a field of reeds and bushes near the Mediterranean Clinic, spread rapidly due to strong gusts of wind that whipped about half past five in the afternoon to the capital Almeria. Solar trash, filled with glass and plastics, also contributed to the quick and rapid spread of the fire.

Numerous calls from neighbours sounded the alarm to the 112 Emergency Service, as well as firefighters and local police, who immediately travelled to the scene to try to control the flames and the great mass of people and onlookers who came to the place from different parts of the city.

A large black plume of grey and brown stained the sky in seconds. Bathers in Nueva Almeria and the beach of El Zapillo, could not believe the strong smell of burning that swept through the area. The ashes were falling everywhere and the sirens of emergency vehicles did not stop ringing.

The speed performance of the device, and coordination between different bodies involved in the work of control and suppression, was crucial to prevent the flames from reaching the houses, and to reassure the neighbours who feared that their homes were affected. There was some fire damage to the gardens of two properties and in prevention a total of 120 homes between six o’clock and nine o’clock at night were evacuated.

In just two hours, the fire was controlled. As a result of the fire, electrical workers arrived at the scene to repair a light pole that fell. Investigations are still underway as to the origin of the outbreak of the flames and it is believed it was caused by an illegal light from a farmhouse in ruins a few meters away. Sparks from electrical joints possibly triggered the flames that swept around 190,000 square meters of scrub.