Summers in Spain are getting hotter and the forest fires seem to be growing bigger every year. This year alone, the flames have already destroyed more than 175,000 hectares of forest in Spain. That's six times more than in the same period the previous year.
The small Castilian village of Neyla de San Miguel is located about 200 km west of Madrid at the foot of the Gredos mountain range. 11 years ago, Angel Malanda and his partner Sole bought a granite house there, German public broadcaster ARD reports in a report from the region. Angel is a firefighter and says that fires often burn these lands, but no one remembers such terrible fires as the current ones.
One spark is enough
"In the last 50 or even 100 years, there have not been fires like this", says the 45-year-old man who participated in extinguishing the fire elements. "A gust of wind carried a spark to the bushes behind us and in just two seconds a huge fire broke out, as if someone had poured gasoline. There were 30 of us firefighters and we fought the flames for four hours, but everything around was destroyed. Suddenly you find yourself between two walls of fire and there is nothing left but to run," says Ángel.
The firefighter now has two days off and he really needs them to process what he has experienced. "My whole childhood practically burned to the ground", says Malanda, tears streaming down his face. He remembers the carefree days spent in the countryside in these lands, when living conditions were modest but happy.
Fire protection does not require radical measures
Malanda points to the chestnut grove that borders Neila de San Miguel. Some of the trees are over 100 years old, while others he planted himself. The path to the forest passes through mowed grass that lies dry on the ground. "That's how it should be," Angel told German public media. "If a fire breaks out here, you hit it with a fire shovel and that's it. We don't need a completely bare strip 50 meters wide around the village. We can be effective in preventing fires with minimal measures." However, Angel feels real anger when he looks at the surrounding villages that he has to protect from fire. The Arizona cypress trees irritate him the most. "Their wood contains a lot of resin, which releases volatile gases in the summer heat. That's why they easily create a fireball - everything here will burn," says the firefighter. Tragically, this type of plant is very popular with homeowners in Spain because it creates a particularly dense shade, explains the German media.
In the fall and winter, Angel Malanda regularly cuts down and removes low vegetation in the forest. He feels bitter that many institutions in Spain do not realize the benefits of such activity. I conducted a survey among our team. It turned out that only about a quarter of our people are engaged in preventive measures to prevent fires all year round. A third of the team has contracts for only nine months, and the employment contracts of 38% of firefighters end with the forest fire season on October 12. Then these people end up on the streets," Malanda told the German media.
"I keep planting chestnut trees"
The man looks back at the old and young chestnut groves in the grove above his village. Despite all the dangers and the dissatisfaction with negligent property owners or negligent institutions, he is still in love with his profession. "If I had to choose now, I would still become a firefighter and take care not only of controlling fires, but also of preventing the danger of them. That is exactly why I keep planting chestnut trees - I try to give back to nature a part of what it has given me."
Author: Hans-Günter Kellner (ARD)