Two fires broke out this Thursday afternoon in the Priorat region (Tarragona), one in municipality of Porrera -which forced this city to be confined- and another in Cabacésthe one that worries the most because the mistral could spread the flames to part of the Montsant natural park.
Firefighters from the Generalitat will work all night in Cabacés to stop a fire that has a potential destruction of 1,000 hectares in the Sierra del Montsant Park, with a total area of 11,755 hectares. With a poorly defined perimeter of 5 kilometers and on an area of 80 hectares of irregular terrain – with few roads, slopes and ravines – some 170 firefighters will work tonight with the aim of stopping the flames on the left flank and finishing stabilizing the right.
9.5 kilometres away, in Porrera, the perimeter of the second fire is 2.2 kilometres and the extinguishing services are working on an area of 20 hectares. In this case, the prognosis is better and during the night, fifty firefighters will continue to work.
At around three o’clock in the afternoon, the announcement of the fire in Cabacés was received and, about an hour later, the fire alarm arrived in Porrera. Both have their origin, according to the first investigations of the Rural Agents, in the cwiring of a power line, and both are still active and have the potential to grow.
So far, the Cabacés fire has affected some 45 hectares, and that of Porrera at around 11 o’clockThroughout the afternoon, the fires were moving against the wind, which represented a particularly dangerous situation for extinguishing personnel.
The firefighters are asking that no one approaches the area if not strictly necessary and they have also taken measures to alert potential hikers in the area. The fire caused the Priorat 1 power line cutwhich affects the municipalities of La Figuera, Gratallops, Morera de Montsant, Poboleda, Porrera, Torroja de Priorat, Vilella Baixa and Alta, leaving around 1,400 subscribers without supply.
Civil Protection has activated the alert phase of the special forest fire emergency plan and the Smoke containment for the residents of Porrera, although there is no fear that the flames will reach this population. Regarding the road effects, the T-702 is closed between Vilella Baixa and Cabacés in both directions of traffic.
