The Directorate-General for Forest Management of the Government of Aragon has set a Red Alert Level for Wildfire Danger today, Tuesday, September 15, across 21 areas of the region: Bajo Ebro Forestal, Jiloca-Gallocanta, Maestrazgo, Moncayo y Aranda, Depresión del Jalón, Muelas del Ebro-Alcubierre, Muelas del Ebro-Valmadrid, Muelas del Ebro-Zuera, Sierras Ibéricas Centrales, Pirineo Occidental, Pirineo Oriental, Prepirineo Occidental, Prepirineo Central, Prepirineo Oriental, Somontano Occidental, Somontano Oriental, Somontano Sur, Puertos de Beceite, Turia, Mijares and Valle del Ebro Agrícola.
Only some areas of the eastern Pyrenees and the south of Teruel province remain at the orange alert level. High-intensity fires could occur today in areas where fuel is more readily available, with topography and wind the main factors driving their spread.
RESTRICTIONS IN FORESTS AND WITHIN 400 METRES
The declaration of the red alert level entails significant restrictions. Lighting fires in open spaces is prohibited, and existing authorisations for burning and other uses of fire are temporarily suspended. Lighting fires is also prohibited in recreational areas, rest areas or camping sites, even in designated locations, as is the use of pyrotechnic materials in forest environments.
The use of equipment or machinery capable of generating sparks, deflagrations or electrical discharges is also prohibited in forests and within a 400-metre strip around them. The red alert level may also entail the suspension of sporting events and public activities in forest environments when their authorisation does not expressly include the conditions required to hold them at this level of risk.
There are, however, certain exceptions for agricultural work. Cereal harvesting and baling are permitted, although when carried out less than 400 metres from a continuous wooded or shrub-covered forest area of more than 100 hectares, they must take place outside the period from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and workers must have the means to respond quickly to a possible fire. Exceptions are also provided for certain agricultural tasks, the use of smokers in beekeeping outside restricted hours and urgent repairs aimed at restoring basic services.
