XÀBIA CONFIRMS SUSPENSION OF AGRICULTURAL BURNING UNTIL OCTOBER 15
The mayor added that all residents have a responsibility to reduce the risk of fire in the municipality.
Xàbia Council has officially confirmed that authorizations for agricultural burning within the municipality will be suspended until October 15th in response to the special fire risk conditions that exist and in a bid to minimise the number of wildfires.
Last week the Generalitat Valenciana issued a decree which gave official notice of the suspension of agricultural burning throughout the Comunidad Valenciana and now mayor Rosa Cardona has signed a municipal decree in which all actions or activities included in the Plan Local de Quemas (the Local Burning Plan) approved in May 2020 are suspended, a resolution that affects the two areas included in the plan; those cones less than 500 metres from forestry areas, and those more than 500m from forestry areas.
The decision to issue the decree has been based on the Plan Local de Quemas itself, which states that adverse conditions may be cause to revoke municipal authorizations for agricultural burning. The order cites that adverse weather conditions do currently exist with a significant lack of meaningful rainfall since last summer, unseasonally high temperatures, and regular episodes of strong land winds.
The situation is aggravated by the large amount of agricultural land in Xàbia having been abandoned and become overgrown which could facilitate the spread of a fire in a possible outbreak.
In addition, the decree highlights that adverse conditions have caused a situation of high water stress in vegetation which has become very dry and with a low moisture content which makes it more available to burn, making outbreaks easier, as well as facilitating the spread of the flames.
The mayor stressed that all residents in Xàbia “have a responsibility to reduce the risk of fire in our municipality as much as possible”, adding that landowners are obliged to maintain their plots in good condition to comply with municipal by-laws.
She also reminded everyone that if there is any sign of fire or smoke, residents should call 112 immediately, the emergency telephone number that is available in all languages, so that fire-fighting units can be deployed immediately.
