About 3pm we
noticed this large, thick column of smoke above Col de Rates
A major fire
had started about noon between Tarbena and Col de Rates
It was
started by someone who had pruned their trees and then set fire to the
resulting waste.
Within an
hour the restaurant at Col de Rates had been closed and everyone told to leave
By 6pm there was dense smoke throughout the valley and we could see flames on the Col de Rates
170 people
were told to leave their homes, including 50 on Col de Rates and in Parcent
We were surprised that we could see, or hear very little air activity. Just one plane and a couple of helicopters who seemed to be watching for signs that the fire was spreading. None had water containers below them. But of course there could have been a lot of activity behind the mountain
The blood red
sun looked like a very bad omen
At 10pm there were two areas of blazing fire on the Parcent side of Col de Rates. The planes stopped at 8pm, but there were a lot of blue lights at the mirador, and a steady stream of vehicles with flashing blue lights making their way up the mountain
This photo
appeared on Facebook about 1800. It was
taken above Denia and shows how thick
the smoke from the fire was
This shows
the area of the fire, but clearly it moved some distance to the right towards
Col de Rates.
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