How to escape from a fire

Summer is always the season in which most forest fires occur in Spain. This year, the situation is being aggravated by the intense heat wave.

These days, Spain is suffering from numerous forest fires. Of the fires, of particular concern is the fire in the Jerte Valley in Extremadura, which has burned more than 6,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 700 people in the affected towns, the fire in Monsagro in Salamanca and the fires in Zamora, Galicia, León and Catalonia. Some of these fires have been provoked.

The main thing if we are near any of these fires is to know how to recognize a column of smoke and call 112 when we see it. We have to describe to the emergency services what we see and let them know the color of the smoke. This will tell you what material is burning. Also the tilt, which will show whether there is wind or not.

Country area

If the fire surprises us in the middle of the field, we must move away from the fire zone and look for a safe area. A safe area is a wide area with no vegetation.

At home

When at home and you see a fire in nearby grounds, we must cool the environment of the house with a hose. It is also necessary to remove all the awnings, close the doors and windows of the house and gather the family and pets and wait inside the house.

On the road

If we are driving on the road it is very important that, if we can’t drive, we should never stay inside the car. The right thing would be to walk to an area with no vegetation and wait for emergency services to come. We must not walk uphill or into ravines.