The picture of the day after the wildfires is that of blackened mountains, charred trees and smoking houses. After the worst, the impact of this fire is measured in hectares of burned forest area. Rarely is it measured how many people endured the blazes and what they did, especially in the days or weeks they fought them at the foot of the mountain. According to a report by the General Directorate of Civil Protection on the fires in Spain, this summer’s fires have already claimed two lives, injured 58 people and forced the evacuation of almost 23,948 people between June 8 and August 7. Castilla y León breaks all records: it is the municipality with the most casualties, the most reported fires large and small, the one that has turned to the Military Emergency Unit (UME) the most and the one that has received the most assistance from the state media.
In the balance sheet that it published this week, the civil protection agency, which reports to the Ministry of the Interior, gives details of the circumstances under which the dead and injured occurred during the extinguishing work. The vast majority of victims (one dead and 37 injured) are firefighters, but also neighbors who helped or were evacuated. The report highlights that 2022 was the worst in the last five years for civil protection incidents.
The worst fire broke out in Losacio (Zamora) on July 17: a member of the fire crews in Ferreruela de Tábara died, as did a neighbor from Escober de Tábara. There were also 14 injuries: 9 firefighters from smoke inhalation; three evacuees from Sesnández de Tábara, one in serious condition, and two men who helped put out the fire, with severe burns. With 28,813 hectares officially burned and 2,700 people evacuated, it is the largest fire to have burned in any area in the summer, followed by another in the same province and area: Ríofrío de Aliste, where 14,073.86 hectares were burned and one person injured (an operator). bulldozers of the Junta de Castilla y León, with burns on his hands).
| start date | name of fire | province | number of injured | facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 of June | Pujarra | Malaga | 3 | Infoca forest fire department. One of them bad, with second degree burns |
| 15th June | Corbera d’Ebre | Tarragon | 1 | A firefighter slightly injured. |
| 15th June | Riofrio de Aliste | Zamora | 1 | A Junta de Castilla y León bulldozer driver with burns on his hands. |
| June 16th | nonasp | Zaragoza | 1 | A man with burned hands |
| 18th of June | Olivella | Barcelona | 1 | A Sergeant from Seprona, slightly intoxicated from smoke inhalation. |
| 5th July | Aranjuez | Madrid | 4 | Three firefighters and a local police officer were slightly injured. |
| July 11th | falsetto | Tarragon | 1 | A slightly drunk person. |
| July 11th | Monsagro | Salamanca | 1 | A firefighter from the Diputación de Salamanca with a cut after a fall, treated at a health center. |
| July 14th | Carballeda de Valdeorras | Ourense | 1 | A man caught fire while riding a motorcycle and suffered severe burns. |
| 15th of July | Chipiona | Cadiz | 5 | Three members of the Guardia Civil with minor burns and poisoning from smoke inhalation. Two people helped with the smoke inhalation |
| 17th July | Losacio | Zamora | 14 | Nine firefighters injured by smoke inhalation. Three people injured during the evacuation of Sesnández de Tábara, one seriously. Two men help. |
| 17th July | The Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort | Barcelona | 8th | Treated for burns, anxiety attacks and smoke inhalation. |
| July 18th | Douro Oil Mill | Zamora | 1 | A forest firefighter with severe burns. |
| July 19th | Domingo Florez Bridge | Lion | 4 | Members of the UME because of a truck accident while giving up the property. |
| July 23 | Yunquera de Henares | Guadalajara | 1 | A farmer who helped with the extinguishing tasks was seriously injured by burns |
| 24th July | Coconut Quintanilla | Burgos | two | Two people slightly injured by burns. |
| July 25th | people | Guadalajara | 1 | A pilot suffered minor injuries when his helicopter crashed. |
| July 25th | Bridge pines | grenade | 3 | Three Infoca employees are being treated by medical services for heat stroke. |
| July 27th | Castrelo de Mino | Ourense | 1 | One brigade member slightly injured with burns to an arm. |
| 29th of July | Collado del Miron | Avila | two | Two brigade members treated for smoke and intense heat; one of them with minor burns. |
| 4th of August | Boiro | A koruna | 1 | A forest firefighter with minor burns on one foot |
| 5th of August | Holy Cross of the Valley | Avila | 1 | A BRIF forest firefighter from Puerto El Pico with a sprained knee. |
Castilla y León was the municipality hardest hit by the fires in terms of the number of fires reported, areas burned, deaths, injuries, evacuees and declared emergencies, but also the region most frequently supported by state media, according to the UME as of dated Ministry of Ecological Transition dependent extinction funds.
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The municipality, jointly governed by the PP and Vox, has registered 13 of the 35 major fires reported between June 8 and July 5, and almost 70,000 hectares of its territory have been destroyed by flames, two-thirds of them in Zamora province. In general, 83 fires were reported compared to 78 in Galicia, the two municipalities most affected by fires this year. A total of 9,455 people had to be evacuated from their homes as a result of the fires in Zamora, Ávila and Salamanca.
The report highlights that the Military Emergency Response Unit responded to 45 fires, all in Situation 2, High Risk. A third of these operations were carried out in Castilla y León. A total of 19 of the fires caused damage to infrastructure.
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