Alt Empordà fires of 2012
|
|
| Date | July 22, 2012 - July 24, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Location | Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain |
| Cause | cigarette |
| Outcome | Fire extinguished |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 25 |
On July 22, 2012 two fires in Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain started in la Jonquera and in Portbou that affected the Girona Province for three days. The first started during midday; it has affected 13,800 hectares (included in this are some 3,000 hectares of crops that have not burned) 19 municipalities and caused two deaths. The fire of Portbou, moreover, began at 19:00 and was controlled in a few hours, burning 50 hectares and killing two people trying to flee the encroaching flames by jumping from the cliffs into the sea. In total, 3,200 residents were left without electricity and 1,700 without phone.
This was the largest fire in the area since 1986. Between July 17–24 of 1986 a serious fire burned out of control, devastating 26,000 hectares and killing the four man crew of a French seaplane. On August 7, 2000 a fire began in Cap de Creus that burned 6,513 hectares; much of the Parc Natural.
Both fires occurred during a summer very conducive to fires as Catalonia has suffered major droughts in the past 40 years. In addition, many forests were in poor condition after the snowstorm of 2010.
In February, 2012 the Fire Department had reported to Parliament that the cuts would undermine their work, "reducing their capacity by 378,000 working hours of what the country will need for summer."
The first of two fires that affected the region was declared a little before noon on July 2, 2012 at the edges of the 779th kilometer N-II (in parking lot of trucks about 500 meters from the border crossing with France). Of the two fires, this was the most devastating in terms of the amount of land affected (about 14,000 hectares).
The disaster was caused by negligence, as noted by the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Artur Mas, from the fire station in Figueres. The Minister of Interior, Felip Puig said that the fire—just like what happened to Portbou—began on the shoulder of the road; later the forest rangers found hundreds of cigarette butts in the area where the fire originated, which gave further strength to the hypothesis that the fire had been caused by human negligence.
The fire spread very quickly, fueled by the strong tramuntana winds and affecting almost 14,000 hectares, from Albera National Park down, nearly to the town of Figueres. This composition of the area was 51% were trees, 22% crops, and 19% brush. Of the 14,000 hectares, 3,000 (containing agricultural crops) were not burned. The fire threatened the towns of Llers and Capmany reaching homes and burning some in Jonquera and Agullana. At points, the flames reached five meters in height.
...
Wikipedia