I've been missing for a while, but no apologies.......some things are more pressing than writing a blog!
And straight away it's back to the same old story I'm afraid. During the afternoon of the 23rd my neighbour pottering about on his roof called my attention to a huge pillar of smoke rising up behind our houses (Figure 1.) and as you can see from the photo it looked like it was just the other side of the hill! 'Bloody hell!,' I thought, 'not again!'
I jumped on my bike immediately and set off to investigate. The Poniente, the name given to the prevailing wind, had been blowing exceptionally strongly all day, and cycling into that wind to get in a position where I could see the fire was like riding with the brakes on, but within minutes it became obvious to me that the fire was farther away than I had originally thought. Phew! But then....shit....I could see the mountains opposite me, looking south-east, some 7 or 8kms away, were aflame, and even as I watched the wind was whipping the fire up, egging it on to take a bite of the next tree, and the next, and the next. But strangely the fire wasn't only progressing in the direction of the wind - almost due south - but was also working its way northwards so that thsoe flames were heading almost directly towards the holiest of holies - Chulilla.
Chulilla is one of the village gems locally, a charming pueblo tucked away in a picture postcard ravine and what's more, almost the last remaining of my favourite cycling haunts that had not been burned to a crisp this summer! I couldn't believe it. I went back home feeling somewhat relieved that the fire was the other side of the highway and would probably not be able to make the jump across, but at the same time I was sick at the destruction that would undoubtedly follow in the days to come. I wish I could say that that feeling had been misguided, but sadly it wasn't.
Figure 1. The time was 5.26pm on the 23rd. And the house you can see is my neighbours.
Figure 2. Convoys of emergency vehicles rolled past...hundreds of them.....
Figure 3. .....as others have finished for the night and head off home.
Later that night after we'd eaten we jumped in the car and set off to see how things were going. It was about 11 when we parked up the first time on the lower slopes of a small mountain behind our neighbours house. he red glow had been plainly visible from our house so as walked up to gain a better prespective I feared the worst.
The wind was still howling and I had to literally stand on the feel of my tripod to keep it from blowing over - I kid you not! As we had made the short climb I had not looked behind me deliberately, as if not looking might make it not so bad when I eventually did look. But I don't think it worked, because when I turned round the devastation was immense.
Standing a few hundred meters further away than I had been earlier on my bike I still couldn't fit all the fires into a single 18mm camera shot! Instead of the single fire I'd seen some four hours earlier, I now saw a string of fires that stretched out over 11kms of mountain and ridge tops.
To the south, the fires had moved rapidly having been fanned by the winds and appeared to be descending on the areas around Bugarra, Gestalgar and maybe Pedralba, all beautiful, all rich in agriculture and also peppered with the residences of many ex-pats, some of whom I know (Figures 4 & 5.). It was unreal how far the fires had moved, the lives it must have already destroyed. I just turned away to look in the opposite direction. It's hard to know what to think a those times.
Figure 4. These fires were furthest away from where we stood, maybe 8 or 9kms. To the naked eye the flames were clearly visible but to capture it with camera I had to use a long exposure, hence the furry fires! These flames appeared to be moving on Domeno.
Figure 5. This line of fire appeared to be moving on Bugarra, Gestalgar and Pedralba.
But it was no better to the north. The fires there had not moved so rapidly but they were definitely very, very close to Chulilla if not on top of it (Figure 6.) - I later found out that the pueblo had already been evacuated and was in the same school where the evacuees from the previous fires had been, the college in Villar del Arzobispo only 3 kms to my right as I stood. The volunteers there deserve medals!
Figure 6. Chulilla was burning as the moon shone above. I just hoped no-one was hurt.
This fire was closest to us and so appeared to burn the brightest, though my heart was descending into darkness. Chulilla and perhaps Sot de Chera, two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen were being altered forever before my eyes. And not, most certainly not in a good way.
More tomorrow.
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