The residents of the Cinco Villas, in Zaragoza, have been seeing since Wednesday how the fire devastates a good part of their villages as a result of the fire declared this Wednesday and that has already reduced more than 15,000 hectares of land to ashes. However, tragedies always bring with them glimmers of hope and, above all, solidarity.
It is precisely this solidarity that is currently in the air in the town of Uncastillo where, despite being evicted for several days, a large group of volunteers work hand in hand with the firefighting teams to provide as much help as possible. Thus, from the Plaza del Ordinario, the volunteers have been in charge of distributing food, drinks and controlling the people who enter and leave the mountain. «If we hadn’t stayed, it would be out of control,» say the neighbors.
«EXCEPTIONAL» COORDINATION WITH FIREFIGHTING TEAMS
The coordination of the volunteers is being, as they define it, «exceptional» and they claim to have followed «all the same guidelines«, as well as being «in direct contact with the authorized personnel who are working in Uncastillo». This is a very important part of the work, and it is worth remembering that the Government of Aragon has asked to avoid displacements and follow the recommendations that are dispensed from the fire extinguishing device, which is already one of the most virulent in recent years in Aragon.
Likewise, the work of Uncastillo’s volunteers has not been based solely on provisioning. The farmers of the area are also playing a very important role, who continue to collaborate with tractors and agricultural machinery. «If they had not stayed, we do not want to imagine how far the fire would have gone,» they stress.
And, they added, it is the neighbors themselves who «know the mountain best», and who know how to access each point by the paths. «The firefighters would take hours to know how to get there, and they are the ones who allow themselves to be helped, ask questions and thank them,» say the volunteers.
