This Sunday, moments of chaos and stress have been caused by the fire that was declared on Saturday night in Moguer, Huelva, and which has spread to Mazagón and Matalascañas, devouring hectares of forest and affecting some farms devoted to the cultivation of strawberries and other berries. The high temperatures and strong winds have made the fire extinction very difficult, but it is already under control since yesterday.
The association Freshuelva has offered to help the Delegation of Agriculture in the extinction of the fire. From 8 pm on Sunday to 6 am on Monday 26 June, more than 150 producers, with their tractors, have spent the night collaborating with those working to keep the fire under control, setting up firewalls and clearing up areas to slow down its progress, as well as using water to cool the farms down and prevent overheating.
"There were workers clearing up the greenhouses after the end of the strawberry campaign and numerous pickers on blueberry and raspberry farms that had to be evacuated immediately," explains Freshuelva manager Rafael Domínguez. Although there has been some damage to intraestructure, it is not very significant," he added.
Rafael Domínguez has highlighted the work carried out by growers of companies associated with farms in the area, who have been fighting the fire together with Infoca personnel and the country's security forces, given the gravity of the fire.
At this point, they have also flatly denied the "insidious accusations made by certain groups who, seeking an interest that does not make any sense, accuse producers of being behind the forest fires, when the general trend has been their endless work without rest and their collaboration in the tasks to stop the advance of the fire, which in some cases, as in Posadillas, has arrived until the very door of the property."
Moreover, he points out that agriculture has played an important role in preventing the fire from causing an even greater catastrophe, since "the strawberry, blueberry and raspberry plantations in the area have served as firewalls to prevent the fire's penetration in the municipality."
In this regard, the manager of Freshuelva pointed out that Agroseguro already made itself available to those affected to begin with the evaluation of the damages caused by the fire as soon as all active outbreaks were under control.
About 450 people of about 1,000 who had to be relocated as a result of the evacuation of more than 2,000 people remain in various facilities, while the return to urbanizations and evicted facilities has already been authorised.