El Incendio Enorme
“Arriving in Spain this time is going to be SO much more relaxed and stress-free,” Davin and I found ourselves speculating last Friday during our return journey to Javea. Despite having three flights and thirty-some hours of travel with two kids through several different airport customs, we at least knew what to expect when we arrived in Spain. We felt relieved knowing that we actually had organized a life whereas last August we arrived without a phone, bank, car, friends, language, etc. This was going to be a breeze!
Well...yes and no.
SUNDAY
We arrived in Javea around nine on Saturday evening, exhausted, and missing four bags including Davin’s brand new mountain bike (worth thousands of dollars). Although this added stress, we felt relief once we made it ‘home.’ We unpacked the essentials, threw sheets on the beds, and grabbed some food below at Bar Titanic (the bar/restaurant we live two floors above). It was great to be home and sleep in and we crashed hard that night.
On Sunday we woke around ten very slowly, feeling drowsy and extremely hot. The weather was forecasted to reach over 40 degrees celsius (104 Fahrenheit), one of the hottest days of the summer. A quick dip in the pool helped us wake up and we headed down to the Port to have “menu del dia” at one of our favorite restaurants, Almandrava. We sat outside in the shade with a fan blowing at us, but the heat was so oppressive that we could barely eat half our meal. It was too hot to eat and time to cool off. The children’s day festivities of the annual fiesta “Virgen de Loreta” were in full swing and the Port was bustling with tourists enjoying the beautiful day.
After another dip in the pool and around 4:30pm, we decided to retreat from the heat and do some unpacking in the apartment. As we hung our suits on the balcony to dry, we noticed a large fire up in the hills directly across from us.
“Wow, that doesn’t look good,” was my initial reaction, but then I recalled that farmer-controlled fires in el campo can put up smoke that usually looks worse than it actually is. I was hoping this was the case anyway. We went back to unpacking but found ourselves curiously drawn back to the balcony to watch as the amount of smoke in the sky continued to build. Eventually, a few water bomber airplanes (hidroaviones) and helicopters arrived and got to work - a scene none of us had never before witnessed.
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| View from our apartment balcony |
We ate dinner together around 8:00pm. It was the first time in a couple months that it was just the four of us. It should’ve felt great. We were back in Javea, together, in our own place, and the sun was setting in the inland mountains coloring wispy clouds a beautiful light pink. But, nothing felt “stress-free”, “relaxed” or even “great.” The fire continued to grow and I found myself glued to local facebook groups trying to learn more about what was happening. When I read that the aerial support would have to stop once the sun set, I looked out at the size of the fire and realized that it was going to be a long night full of devastation. Then we heard the sound of a woman bawling outside. We looked down to the restaurant and watched as her friends and family held her tight. Her family had been evicted from their home which was located in the midst of the fire. She had to leave everything behind, including their two dogs. It was impossible not to share her fear, sadness, and worry.
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| Photo: Xabia AL DIA |
The conditions were perfect for the fire to spiral out of control between the heat, wind gusts, and lack of rain for the past few months. Within a few hours of sunset, what appeared to begin as one large fire one Cumbre del Sol (forest mountain area) became four or more individual fires several kilometers apart all situated in the direction of the wind towards which was blowing towards the Arenal beach, just less than ten kilometers, and out to sea.
While trying to remain calm and unaffected by our own fear in front of the kids, Davin and I reached out to neighbors and friends who would have a better grasp on how the situation could play out. We were reassured that it couldn’t reach us because we didn’t live in a heavily forested area and fires in Spain “typically don’t burn down homes.” This gave us peace of mind until around 11pm when we watched the wind pick up, flames growing larger, and closer in our direction. If the wind changed direction only slightly towards us, why couldn’t it jump near us? It seemed to be spreading with no rhyme or reason in the direction of the wind. We packed a bag and sat on the balcony glued to the fire and our phones trying to learn more until close to 2am.
We watched multiple explosions within the fires. Spanish homes are heated with butane gas tanks you could see these, along with cars, and even trees covered in dry residue this time of year actually explode within the fire. It was chilling to watch. Sirens persisted in the distance, as this battle could only be fought at ground level during the night. Thoughts of friends living in that area and all of the potential victims were terribly unsettling. On Facebook, I learned of the neighborhoods progressively getting evacuated and sent to local schools where the Cruz Rojo (Red Cross) was organizing food and clothing donations. Social media was going crazy with fire pictures, and a mix of posts in which people offered help, information, or just sheer panic. The cause of the fire was deemed arson and many speculated continuously about the culprits.
MONDAY
From sunrise to sunset it felt like we were living in a war zone. With the sunrise, came the arrival of aerial support and hope for an end. The skies of small town Javea were packed with planes and helicopters, all swarming around the fire. I went down the Arenal beach and every two minutes a water bomber plane would emerge around the corner, after loading up with seawater, and circle to the mountain. Helicopters with large water bags suspended below would hover over the closest swimming pool they could find to fill the bags and return to the fire. The largest area affected, was Grandella, a large natural forest area on the mountain. The bomberos (firefighters) had spent all night protecting homes (which they do an incredible job of) and now the struggle was to stop the burning of acres and acres of natural forest land.
Within a few hours, things were looking controlled and felt hopeful. No flames could be seen and the color of smoke in the sky was a light gray, as opposed to deep black. The wind had let up which helped dramatically. But unfortunately, we soon learned that was there was severe damage occurring now on the other side of the mountain in Granadella that we couldn’t see at first. But by midday we witnessed a huge, new, ominous black cloud rise high into the sky. It wasn’t over. And we all just wanted it to be over.
It was an odd juxtaposition in Javea, tourists vacationing on the beach and a ground/air battle against nature being fought in the background. A full day of fiesta activities were all suspended. People had been evacuated from their homes and couldn’t return. The community of Javea started to show impressive solidarity. People offered their homes, food, and clothes to those affected directly. It was really impressive to see the generosity extended.
By 4:30pm the wind had slowed substantially but now came our direction, filling our entire apartment with smoke. We had to close all of the window and doors. The laundry hanging outside was collecting ash, so we brought that in as well. While stuck inside, I continued following updates on facebook. New fires kept being reported from residents despite all of this firefighting! Why was this happening?!? This was the most disconcerting part of the whole thing. It seemed as though arsonists, pyromaniacs, or whoever the responsible parties, were targeting different areas intentionally. This was really scary.
The “incendio” (fire) in Javea and neighboring town Benitatxell were making national news and the fight to stop total destruction of (once beautiful) Granadella park area continued Monday night. We had watched in disbelief, various fires being fought for over 30 hours. We were so emotionally exhausted and sleep deprived we managed to fall asleep by 10pm that night.
TUESDAY
Waking up Tuesday morning with smoke-free skies brought tremendous relief. Bomberos continued to survey the land closely and deal with any issues throughout the day. Javea had returned to a relatively normal state of calm. Many sources such as Xabia Al Dia, El Pais, Las Provincias, BBC news, Telecinco and The Guardian reported on the devastation of around 200 acres of land and 20 homes. The president of the Generalitat de Valencia, Ximo Puig, had visited the scene and declared it as “terrorismo medioambiental” (environmental terrorism).
We tried to carry on settling back into our apartment (which we had moved everything out during the summer). At 7pm I went to the gym to get some temporary relief from all of the tensions and when I left at sunset, I saw another large fire on the road leading out of Javea towards Gata in “Las Ramblars”.
WEDNESDAY
By Wednesday, those evacuated were able to return to their homes. Air activity continued as the damage was surveyed. No deaths have been reported and pets are slowly being reunited with their owners. Mayor, Jose Chulvi, had a message for the town of Javea. They continue to work on a plan of action.
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| Xabia Al DIA photos |
The lingering question of “why?”continued to baffle me and certainly many others. Why on earth would someone do this intentionally? And then something very apropos emerged on social media - a petition requesting signatures from local residents to protect the land. With it, I read an article written in 2015 describing a very controversial modification in the “Ley de Montes” put in place in 2003 which protected land burned in fires from being built upon for a minimum of thirty years afterward. Environmental groups fought hard in opposition to this change, warning that with it, returned a great risk of provoked fires in order to permit construction on burned land. Essentially, this modification in the law created an incentive for protected land to be burned if there was interest for development.
I’m not sure if these intentional fires are a direct result of this, or if it’s just loco people who experience psychological benefits from watching the destruction. Global warming has increased temperatures and periods of drought which also dramatically increases the risk of unintentional fires. However, as the week progressed, I continued to read about a fire in Lliber and all of the bomberos immediately left Javea to address another disastrous fire in the south of Spain. The authorities deemed the crisis a result of "la mano de hombre" - the hand of man.
Fortunately, we could take our mind off of the disaster and enjoy a procession of fiesta Mar de Deu de Loreto Wednesday evening. It was a typically beautiful, solemn Spanish procession. The mayor participated as usual and I can only imagine how exhausted and emotionally drained he must have felt, however, it seemed healthy for everyone to return festivities as planned.
THURSDAY
Thursday I packed up beach gear and took the kids to the Arenal to swim. On our way, we decided to drive up to Pinosol park area to see if the kids’ favorite playground was okay and to see how the fire impacted the neighborhood. It was crazy to see how sporadic the burned areas were. Many homes were untouched, yet surrounded by burn, which shows how well the bomberos target their efforts. Half of the park was burned but the newly built playground remained. We drove in the direction of Cumbre del Sol (up the mountain) and quickly saw how far reaching the devastation was. This forest area was enjoyed by hikers, hunters, mountain bikers and was the home to various wildlife. Now it is black empty desolation that is predicted to take 20 years to recover.
Thursday evening we returned to the Port and watched a gorgeous sunset that we’ve grown to relish in Javea. We watched the final fiesta procession and felt gratitude for being together, safe, and enriched with culture. The grand finale of the fiesta was at midnight- impressive fireworks launched from three floating rafts in the sea.
FRIDAY
La Vuelta, the second largest road bike race to Tour de France, came to Javea again this year. During the crisis earlier in the week I thought surely it would be canceled, but the plans held. Last year the race passed through town, but this year a time trial started in the Port at 1:30pm, so by 11am it was completely packed with teams, buses, guardia civil, local policia, race volunteers, vendors, and professional cyclists for the “contrarreloj” (time trial). The energy was pure excitement!
WEEKEND
We made it. What a week! And in the end, it was not relaxed or stress-free like we had predicted. It was a total emotional roller coaster!- but that is just par for the course since we left the US last August. Living abroad we are continually put outside our comfort zone, challenged, and force to grow. We are expanding ourselves into new circles, and through all the ups and downs we are truly living. Life is never boring.
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| Volly & Elva |
The luggage returned, right?
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I left you hanging. I did all arrive on Tuesday- Thank God!
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