A man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the La Bisbal d’Empordà (Girona) wildfire while working with an angle grinder by the roadside. The blaze remains out of control, fanned by the tramontana wind. The flames have ravaged around 1,280 hectares of forest and have forced around 12,000 people in several municipalities in the province of Girona to remain indoors.
The Government of Catalonia has requested support from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to fight the Empordà wildfire, which broke out in La Bisbal d’Empordà and, according to the Rural Agents, may have been started by mechanical works on a road.
The president of the regional government, Salvador Illa, has warned about the scale of the wildfire and has called on people to follow the authorities’ instructions to the letter, while the Generalitat has advised residents in the Barcelona area to avoid travelling to Baix Empordà, Gironès and Pla de l'Estany to facilitate firefighting operations.
Preventive confinement and mobile alerts
The La Bisbal fire, still active and out of control after entering the Gavarres massif, has produced a huge column of smoke and led to the preventive confinement of several municipalities in Empordà, affecting around 12,000 people. In addition, some 40,000 people have received Es-Alert mobile warnings because of the coverage of the mobile phone masts.
