Wildfire stay-indoors order lifted at sports club and residential area in Terrassa

A stay-indoors order issued to a sports club and residential area in Terrassa on Thursday afternoon has been lifted.

The order was issued after a wildfire that firefighters had considered stabilized flared up again at around 6pm due to winds from a nearby storm. It was lifted around 7.30pm.

The Can Pi residential area is home to 85 people, although it is not currently known how many were home when the order was issued.

No details were released about how many people were at the Egara sports club.

Firefighters are battling the flames with 12 ground crews, down from 16. Four aerial units withdrew due to the weather.

The fire broke out around 3.30pm. Firefighters have asked the public to avoid the area.

Alert

Civil Protection activated the alert phase of the Infocat emergency plan and sent an ESAlert message to mobile phones in the area to inform residents of the stay-at-home order.

Over the course of Thursday, the fire service responded to five other wildfires, four of which are now extinguished (Montornès de Segarra, Castellbisbal, Artesa de Lleida, and Girona), with a fifth (in Tiurana) now smoldering but no longer showing active flames.

At each of these fires, the fire service deployed as many crews as possible in order to extinguish them quickly and free up resources for the next incident.

This week a fire considered the first sixth-generation blaze ever recorded in Catalonia left two people dead.

Catalonia and wildfires

Catalonia is one of the European regions most vulnerable to wildfires. Its hot, dry summers, combined with strong winds, vast forested areas, and rugged terrain, create the perfect conditions for forest fires. 

Over the past decade, Catalonia has experienced an average of 500 wildfires per year, with around 1,800 hectares burned annually. 

Listen to the podcast below to learn more about Catalonia's wildfire strategy.