Firefighters in Mallorca recently tackled a forest fire which broke out in the evening, affecting 1.2 hectares of land. They managed to extinguish a forest fire at the Albufera de Mallorca at 2.25 pm on Sunday 25 February, which had affected 1.2 hectares of sugarcane fields. The joint efforts of the Balearic Islands Institute of Nature (Ibanat) and the Mallorca Fire Service played a crucial role in bringing the fire under control.
Ibanat detected the fire at 11.00 am and initially assessed it as a Level 1 threat, manageable with the current resources under the Infobal plan, according to an update on social media. They quickly downgraded the severity of the fire to level 0 at midday, indicating that it had stabilised, and completely extinguished the fire shortly afterwards.
Precautionary measures and weather warnings
Level 1 fires have the potential to require protective measures for people and property in the surrounding area, but do not pose a risk to the wider public. Meanwhile, the Department for the Natural Environment has imposed a ban on the use of open fires on woodland, including approved recreational areas, in response to the high risk of wildfires and extreme weather conditions.
In addition to environmental precautions, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has issued a yellow warning for the entire Balearic coastline and certain inland areas due to the forecast south-westerly winds reaching speeds of between 50 and 70 kilometres per hour.