A wildfire declared on Friday near Senet, in the municipality of Vilaller in Alta Ribagorça, remained active on Sunday after burning 44 hectares of forest land, according to the Bombers de la Generalitat, Catalonia’s fire and rescue service.

The fire is burning on steep, difficult-to-access terrain close to Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. For visitors and residents in the Vall de Boí area, the immediate concern is that crews are working to prevent flames reaching high-mountain grazing land to the east and entering the national park.

Five aerial resources began work early on Sunday: two helicopters, two water-bombing aircraft and a land-based water-bombing plane. Much of the affected area cannot be reached safely by firefighters on foot because of the slope and lack of access routes.

Firefighters contain the blaze between natural barriers

The main fire had burned 37 hectares, while a second active outbreak about 900 metres away had burned a further seven hectares. Flames reached a ridge at roughly 2,300 metres altitude on Saturday afternoon.

The Bombers de la Generalitat are using wider ravines and scree slopes as containment lines. They are seeking to keep the fire within boundaries at:

  • the Escobedieso ravine to the north;
  • the Munyidor ravine ridge to the south;
  • the Noguera Ribagorçana river to the west; and
  • high grazing land near the Vall de Boí to the east.

If the fire crossed the Noguera Ribagorçana, it could spread beyond Catalonia, firefighters said. Crews inspected the perimeter overnight and used drones to fly over the burned area.

Firefighters warned that the blaze could remain active for several days.

Residents asked to report smoke immediately

The operational strategy relies mainly on aircraft because the terrain prevents crews from laying water lines or carrying out manual firefighting work across much of the fire zone.

Anyone who sees fire or a smoke column near forested areas should call 112 immediately, the emergency number used by Catalonia’s emergency services.

Primary sources: govern.cat, govern.cat, govern.cat, govern.cat, govern.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, elperiodico.com, Agencias, segre.com, europapress.es, tarragonadigital.com, Roger Junyent. El Pont de Vilomara, admin, lavanguardia.com, puntvalles.cat, Carla Rivero, naciodigital.cat.