The first heat wave of the year in Spain brings with it this Thursday an extreme risk of forest fires in Media Spain and very high to most of the rest of the country, since the high temperatures increase the danger of spreading fires in the mountains.
The State Meteorology Agency (AEMET) establishes the levels of risk of forest fires from meteorological data and numerical models of prediction of time.
The risk of fire is classified into five levels (low, moderate, high, very high and extreme), which are indicators of the probability that fires begin, as well as its extension and intensity.
And are elaborated depending on the temperature of the dry air, the relative humidity of the air, the speed of the wind and the precipitation recorded in the last 24 hours.
In this way, the forest fire risk map of this Thursday indicates that they are at extreme risk (red) all the peninsular northern half -except most of Galicia and the Cantabrian communities-, areas of the South Mesta, Andalusia
Oriental, Murcia and the island of Mallorca.
The very high risk (orange) is for points of Ourense, León, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Murcia and the province of Alicante.
On the contrary, there is only moderate (green) or low (blue) risk in Galicia, the Cantabrian communities, Western Andalusia, Valencia, Castellón and Canarias.
To prevent forest fires, the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies – dependent on the Ministry of the Interior – advises extreme precautions, pay special attention to the standards of the Autonomous Community on Fire Prevention and Authorized periods to make burns of stubble or avoid shedding
Cigarettes, garbage and, especially, glass bottles that make magnifying glass effect with the sun.
In case of being surprised by a fire, the authorities recommend avoid penetrating the mountain or forest and always go through areas of great visibility and free of fuel.
