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Niebla fire finally stabilised after ten days: hundreds of evacuees allowed home
Andalucía's largest ever wildfire has been brought under control after burning through up to 45,000 hectares, with the Military Emergency Unit now standing down
After ten days that pushed emergency services to their limits, the Niebla wildfire has been stabilised. Andalucía's regional president Juanma Moreno made the announcement on Sunday from the Advanced Command Post, confirming that 417 people still displaced from their homes had been cleared to return, and that all roads affected by the fire would reopen."The fire is finally under control," Moreno told journalists, having previously described Friday's visit as marking "the beginning of the end." The stabilisation follows 36 continuous hours of monitoring during which no new fires or flames were detected within the fire's 210-kilometre perimeter.
A long road to get here
The fire broke out on August 6 in the Raboconejo area of Niebla, rapidly overwhelming initial resources and burning through eleven municipalities. At its peak, authorities admitted the fire was beyond their ability to extinguish, with the flames generating what fire experts described as a "persistently modified atmosphere" sustaining constant high-intensity burning day and night.
The final burned area could reach up to 45,000 hectares, though Moreno noted that intact "islands" of up to 400 hectares have been found within the perimeter, meaning the actual figure may be smaller than initial forecasts. A final assessment from the Copernicus satellite is still pending.Standing down
With stabilisation confirmed, the fire has been downgraded from Level 2 to Level 1 of the Special Civil Protection Plan for Forest Fire Emergencies. The Military Emergency Unit (UME) will begin its withdrawal to its base in Morón de la Frontera, with forestry brigades and aircraft from the Ministry for Ecological Transition also gradually pulling back. The Infoca Plan will continue control and cooling operations, as Moreno cautioned that full extinguishing of the fire would likely not come until "weeks later."
The acting government delegate for Andalucía, Francisco Toscano, confirmed the reopening of all affected roads and the authorised return of evacuees in both Huelva and Seville provinces.
Moreno paid tribute to the enormous operation that brought the fire under control, praising the Infoca Plan, the UME, provincial fire consortiums, the Guardia Civil, the Niebla Ayuntamiento and a range of other agencies including the NGO World Central Kitchen. The "constant and relentless aggression" of the flames had pushed teams "to the point of exhaustion," he said, adding that Infoca crews had simultaneously responded to 17 other fires across the region during the same period.He closed with a plea to the public, reminding them that "96% of fires are caused by human activity, either by action or omission," and urging extreme caution for the remainder of the summer.
Images: Junta de Andalucia/X
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