The forest fire declared in Orés, in the Cinco Villas region (Zaragoza), remains active and the provisional affected area has already reached 14,000 hectares. During the early hours of Friday, ground work intensified, although the fire remains very active.
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The efforts were largely focused on defending the populations of Malpica de Arba and Uncastillo. The teams involved in the fire saw how the flames reappeared at different points along the perimeter, which is still not consolidated, and had to work to contain the fire’s advance in the areas of greatest activity.
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“It has been a very complicated night, but we have managed to protect two of the points that worried us the most: Uncastillo and Malpica de Arba. The fire has a huge perimeter, so we continue to work very cautiously. The risk of spread remains very high and we cannot consider the entire perimeter consolidated,” explained in the morning the Minister of Finance, Interior and Public Administration of Aragón, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro.
For the moment, the towns of Orés, Asín, Luesia, Malpica de Arba, and Uncastillo remain evacuated. All residents are being cared for and around 100 people remain in the sports center of Ejea de los Caballeros, while the rest of the inhabitants have relocated on their own.
The users of the residences in Orés, Asín, and Luesia are at the Mimara residence in Zaragoza, while five people from Uncastillo have been transferred to the Elvira Otal residence in Ejea de los Caballeros. Additionally, psychological support will be reinforced at the Zaragoza residence. In Asín, ten homes are affected and a goat farm has been burned. The power line between Asín and Orés remains cut, although Asín receives supply via a generator.
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The failure of a Telefónica repeater left areas without coverage, which has complicated coordination
The operation planned for last Friday involved around 450 participants and more than 30 aerial resources from various institutions, companies, and autonomous communities. The military emergency unit has reinforced its deployment with the incorporation of the section from Madrid, exceeding 300 personnel. Additionally, the arrival of a second helicopter from Valencia was planned. The Civil Guard has increased its service and will maintain aerial reconnaissance to detect possible people in areas near the perimeter. During the night, the Pegaso team used drones with thermal cameras to locate hot spots, perform thermal mapping, and facilitate the planning of extinguishing work safely.
One of the main operational problems has been communications. The failure of a repeater left areas without coverage, which complicated coordination with farmers and other deployed resources. A mobile repeater has been requested to facilitate communications in the area.
The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, admitted that the situation is “extraordinarily complicated” and claimed that the central government and that of Aragón are working in “maximum coordination” to “mitigate it.”
On the other hand, the fire that broke out this Thursday in La Mierla (Guadalajara) has already burned more than 2,000 hectares and the Minister of Sustainable Development of Castilla-La Mancha, Mercedes Gómez, stated that it is “far from being controlled.” This fire has already forced the evacuation of seven towns.
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