After five days of relentless fighting against three fires in Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo, which eventually merged into one (in terms of fighting them, not physically), there are positive results. The race against time carried out on Monday night by hundreds of personnel finally showed “positive progress,” said the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska, who could not hide his joy.
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And this translates into the return of about 25,000 evacuated people from 13 municipalities (8 in Madrid and 5 in Ávila).
In Ávila, the de-escalation occurs in Fresnedilla, Burgohondo, Higuera de las Dueñas, Pedro Bernardo, and southern Navaluenga. In Madrid, Cadalso de los Vidrios, Cenicientos, Navalagamella, Navas del Rey, Rozas de Puerto Real, Aldea del Fresno, Chapinería, and Colmenar del Arroyo.
Additionally, the confinement of several municipalities in Madrid and Ávila, which kept about 22,000 people locked in their homes, is lifted. These are Villa del Prado, except for the Encinar del Alberche urbanization, which remains evacuated, and San Martín de Valdeiglesias, except for the urbanizations Costa de Madrid, San Ramón, Javacruz, La Javariega, and Veracruz, which remain evacuated, in Madrid. And central Navaluenga and Navas del Marqués, in Ávila.
But it has not been the only improvement. On the Toledo front, Castilla-La Mancha has regained control of the extinguishing efforts after leaving the national emergency, which only Madrid and Ávila remain in. Restrictions are lifted in the only two municipalities of the Tiétar Valley that were evacuated and also in the two urbanizations of Almorox.
The residents of Aldea del Fresno could not hide their joy because they thought it would still take several days to return
Joy broke out in the sports centers of Villamanta and Navalcarnero, which mostly host the residents of Aldea del Fresno. Most had been there since Thursday night.
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At 5 p.m., those who had their own car took their few belongings and went home, with the enormous joy of returning home, showering, sitting on the sofa, sleeping in a bed, recounts María, who has been sleeping in the van since Thursday with her dogs (in this sports center their entry was not allowed, in others, yes). Those without their own vehicle waited for buses arranged for them. The joy was even greater, if possible, because most of the evacuees from these towns thought they still had long days ahead in the sports centers.
Has the war against this mega-fire been won? Not at all. There is still much work to do and, worst of all, a new heat wave, a real climate bomb, that could undo the progress. But, well, “day by day,” says one of the workers at the La Muni bar, who has been serving the residents for a week.
The Minister of Environment, Agriculture, and Interior of the Community of Madrid, Carlos Novillo, has assured that the evolution of the large fire in the Sierra Oeste allows for “optimism,” but insists that a situation of “maximum alert” remains due to adverse weather forecasts for the coming days.
The situation is serious, but somewhat less than a few days ago after managing to contain the fire’s advance on Monday night on the northern front of the San Juan reservoir, near Valdemaqueda, the one that worried emergency services the most. “At this moment we are containing the fire; stabilization is still in the future, hopefully soon,” said the minister, who points out that the fronts of Casillas and Mijares, in the province of Ávila, are also evolving favorably.
Extinguishing services manage to contain the fire, but the situation is of maximum alert
The joyful faces of those who set out for home yesterday contrasted with those who still cannot return, like Patri, a resident of Zarzalejos. She has been staying since Friday with her children, her two dogs, and her two cats, in the sports center of Alcalá de Henares. “You can’t even imagine how much I want to go home. This is a nightmare that seems endless,” she laments. But surely it does have an end.
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