Firefighters Receive Farewell
Residents in the southern Spanish town of Niebla lined the streets to applaud members of the Military Emergency Unit as they began pulling out after a huge wildfire was finally declared stabilised following 10 punishing days of firefighting.
Footage shows residents lining the street, clapping and cheering as vehicles carrying members of the Military Emergency Unit, known as the UME, roll through the town.
The blaze, which broke out on August 6 in the Raboconejo area of Niebla in Huelva province, has scorched more than 38,000 hectares and carved out a perimeter stretching around 210 kilometres. It became one of the most destructive fires of a brutal summer for Spain, where more than 226,000 hectares had already burned by August 12.
Wildfire Finally Stabilised
The emotional farewell followed days of relentless flames, evacuations and firefighting conditions so severe that officials at one point described the Niebla blaze as beyond normal extinction capacity.
Authorities lowered the emergency level from two to one after the fire was stabilised, allowing the UME to begin withdrawing. But the danger is not entirely over, with hotspots still smouldering and crews warning that fully extinguishing the blaze could take weeks.
The Niebla Town Council had urged residents to turn out for the departing troops, thanking them for their work during the emergency.
“From Niebla we can only say one thing: Thank you for your professionalism, for your courage and for always being there when you are needed,” the council said.
Residents Return Home
The stabilisation also allowed 417 people who remained evacuated from communities hit by the blaze to finally return home.
Firefighters remain on the ground tackling hotspots and cooling the scorched landscape, bringing an end to the immediate crisis but leaving another vast scar from a punishing fire season that has ravaged huge swathes of Spain.
Ministry of Defence of Spain, via Viory.Video
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