In Urzainki (Navarre) firefighting efforts continued on Thursday at a forest fire that reignited earlier in the week. According to emergency crews, the fire is spreading slowly near Peña Gazpar , but the steep, difficult-to-access terrain is making it hard for ground crews to reach and slowing progress in containing the fire.
The service Bomberos de Navarra has deployed a large-scale operation. Eight aircraft—some regional, some national—are working alongside several ground crews at the main hotspot. The operation is being supported by resources from the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico. The aim is to prevent further spread into inaccessible hillside terrain through coordinated water drops from the air and targeted work on the ground.
The president of the Autonomous Community, María Chivite, received an update on the situation at midday at Puesto de Mando Avanzado in Isaba . There, she met representatives of the Junta General del Valle de Roncal and stressed that, as things stand, there is no danger to built-up areas. She also thanked the municipalities for supporting the emergency crews. Chivite told the media that firefighting would continue for several days; she was counting on an improvement in the weather later in the day to make aerial operations easier. This is a political assessment and does not replace an official all-clear.
The authorities describe the current spread of the fire as moderate, but warn that wind and dry conditions could change its behaviour. No evacuations or damage to inhabited areas had been confirmed by the afternoon. The incident command is keeping the public updated and adapting its tactics to the terrain. Current priorities are securing existing fire lines, cooling active flanks and preventing new ignition points in sections that are difficult to traverse.
Background: after initial progress in fighting the fire last weekend, it reignited at the start of the week. The current response demonstrates the central role of rapid coordination between air and ground units in Navarre’s Pyrenean valleys. The weather and vegetation moisture will be crucial to what happens next; forecasts of the duration or end point are therefore uncertain and depend on local changes.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).