Víctor Riera
Project technician at the Pau Costa Foundation
All I know about this fire is what I read in this morning’s news; from what I can gather, it seems the victims tried to flee the fire via an unmarked route.
That said, it is worth remembering that most incidents where people become trapped or accidents involving those not involved in fire-fighting operations occur during evacuation. The clearest example was the accident in Pedrogão (Portugal) in 2017 — although in this case it was an extreme fire, the victims were trapped on a road, possibly due to the traffic congestion caused by the fire itself. In the same year, there were other victims who also died whilst trying to flee one of the fires in Galicia. However, whilst we were still reeling from the events in Pedrogão, in Huelva the only access route to Matalascañas was cut off due to the fire in Moguer, with access routes gradually reopening as the situation allowed. For all these reasons, the instructions and recommendations of the relevant authorities must always be followed, and people must stay informed about the current situation, whether there is a fire nearby or not.
Another lesson learnt from these incidents is whether we are truly aware of our surroundings, and whether people living in vulnerable areas (such as scattered farmhouses in the hills, which by their very nature have difficult access) really understand the risk to which they are exposed every summer. In 2012, during the Ojén (Málaga) fire — which burnt more than 8,000 hectares, most of it during a single night of strong winds from the land — there was also one fatality, a person who returned home after being evacuated. This twofold problem — the urban-forest interface, where forest fires intersect with the urban fabric, and the lack of awareness regarding fire risk — is not unknown to INFOCA. In 2015, Miguel Ángel Catalina, former director of the Málaga Provincial Operations Centre, gave a presentation addressing these very issues (direct public outreach, including foreign residents, and what people living in these areas should know). Furthermore, in complex areas, drills are often carried out to review self-protection plans and improve coordination between response teams.