AN INFERNO sweeping the Sierra Calderona nature reserve spanning the Valencia and Castellón provincial borders has wiped out 500 hectares (more than 1,230 acres), forcing hundreds of evacuations and blocking the A-23 Valencia-Zaragoza-Huesca motorway.
A country house in Segorbe and several farms in Soneja, both in the province of Castellón, have been evacuated as the flames rage out of control between the villages of Gàtova (Valencia province) and Altura (Castellón province).
So far, 124 soldiers from the Armed Forces response unit have joined the hydroplanes, helicopters and fire engines sent out to the site, and terrifying photos of firefighters on the front line faced with a wall of flames 10 kilometres long have gone viral on social media.
The blaze started in a forest near Gàtova as a result of a lightning strike during a storm with no rain and has spread west.
Meanwhile, the port of Sagunto, just north of Valencia city, shut down at 09.15 this morning (Thursday) to leave the harbour waters free for hydroplanes to refill.
As yet, no homes are believed to be affected, and nobody has had to be evacuated from the main towns or urbanisations in Segorbe, Soneja, Altura or Gàtova, although the CV-25 Altura-Gàtova highway has been shut, with drivers warned to take alternative routes so as not to cause obstructions to fire engines.
The blaze is said to be the worst in recent history to affect the nature reserve, a mountain range home to numerous forestry areas.
As yet, it is mostly only affecting rural areas and residential parts are believed to be safe, but the evolution of the inferno will depend upon the direction of the wind.
Photograph by the 112 emergency service centre, regional government of Valencia
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