The residents affected by the fire in Jerte: “Everything is going to be destroyed, it is going to be a ruin” – RTVE

Residents crowd into the square of one of the towns affected by the Jerte fire. They watch with concern the coming of the rescue teams that are trying to put out the fire declared this morning in the Gargante de los Infiernos nature reserve which, according to the Extremadura forestry director “has been provoked”. Many recognize that having the llamas so close worries them and they regret the loss of this place. “Everything is going to be destroyed, it is going to be a ruin,” one of the neighbors tells TVE. “We have animals and we don’t know if they will let us pass this afternoon,” says another restless. “I haven’t slept a wink all night and it’s really bad. “It’s a shame, with how beautiful the valley is,” laments a resident. The affected area is between Jerte and Tornavacas, the area that is burning is oak grove and efforts are focused on preventing it from reaching the pine forest area in Tornavacas, as it would advance faster. With this new focus, Extremadura faces its seventh day with active forest fires. There is also concern in the Las Hurdes region, where more than 8,000 hectares have been burned and where hundreds of people remain evacuated. Another ten outbreaks remain active in Castilla y León, Andalusia and Galicia, which have devastated some 14,000 hectares, while the heat wave continues unabated. the minimum and they do not know when they will be able to returnIn Las Hurdes, uncertainty and resignation due to the evolution of the fire are growing in equal parts.Many of the neighbors have been evacuated for days and do not know when they will be able to return to their homes, since that the fire is still at danger level 2. This is the case of Raquel, a resident of Higuera de Albalat, who left her house on Friday to take refuge in a nearby sports center. “We were already tired and we slept a bit, but we can’t wait to go home. They evacuated us at 3 in the morning and we’ve been here ever since,” she said in an interview with Channel 24 hours. “There are between 80 and 100 people here, many of them older,” he said, although many neighbors have turned to those affected and have offered their houses to some of them. In other provisional centers, improvised chairs and beds alternate with the few belongings of the residents. “Some pants, a jacket and some shirts and nothing else. The minimum, that’s it,” one of the residents evacuated from Las Hurdes described to RNE, about what he has managed to get out of his home before to go. “There are people who did not want to leave, but let’s see if we can return. People want to go home,” another resident wishes. In total, the Board has mobilized 170 troops, to which are added support units from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Military Emergency Unit (UME), including two helicopters and fifty troops. Dozens of outbreaks are still active in Spain Another of the fires of concern is the one located in Monsagro, Salamanca, where some 9,000 hectares have been destroyed. This Sunday several outbreaks have been reactivated as the wind has increased in the area, a situation that was already expected, sources from the Ministry of the Environment have reported. In the Sierra de Mijas, in Andalusia, almost 2,000 hectares have already been razed, which has allowed the return to their homes of those evicted from various urbanizations of Alhaurín el Grande. Some neighbors have even approached with sticks, shovels and buckets to try to suffocate some points, desperate to see the mountain burn. The fire also keeps Galicia and Catalonia on edge with various active outbreaks, while high temperatures keep much of Spain on alert. This has caused communities such as Valencia to warn of the high risk of fires, for which they have asked the population for caution.