The Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Núria Parlon, assured this Thursday that Bombers de la Generalitat and Agents Rurals arrive prepared for a fire campaign that is expected to be classic in Catalonia, with episodes of strong heat and more vegetation load after the rains of winter and spring.
The point of greatest risk appears in that combination. The rain has favored the growth of vegetation, but Parlon warned that this fuel is now more exposed because the strong winds of March and April have dried it out and left it especially fragile.
Parlon warns that nine out of ten fires have human origin
During her assessment of the campaign, the minister asked for prudence and recalled that nine out of ten fires originate from human causes. The message is directed both at activities in the natural environment and at any behavior that could cause ignition in a context of high temperatures.
Parlon identified this as one of the keys to the summer, because the behavior of vegetation can accelerate the spread of fire when heat, wind, and accumulated forest mass after wet months coincide.
Bombers and Agents Rurals prepare for several fires at the same time
In addition to the state of the terrain, the minister pointed out that the main operational challenge will again be the simultaneity of fires recorded in recent years. This scenario forces emergency services to respond to several outbreaks in parallel during the same day.
In this forecast, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security assumes a classic summer profile, without deviating from the most common patterns of the forest campaign, although with the added pressure of more vulnerable vegetation due to the combined effect of previous rain and subsequent drying.
The most concrete warning given by Núria Parlon was that proportion of fires with human intervention, emphasizing that nine out of ten fires have that origin.