At 1:00 p.m., the cell phones of all the residents of Uncastillo confirmed what some had already suspected for hours: they had to vacate their home. The change in the direction of the wind in what is already the worst fire in recent years in Aragon forced them to leave with the clothes on their backs (or, at most, with a bag with their mobile phone and a change of clothes) in the direction of the Ejea de los Caballeros casino where, now, 53 residents of the town try not to let the hours get on them.
«We are all fine, the whole town is safe and it is a relief, but now what we fear most is that the fire will enter the houses. It’s an uncertainty and to see the images of the fire so close… It’s scary,» said Lola Pemán and Pedro Baranda, residents of Uncastillo and the latter, in addition, a councilor of the town council.
Together with another fifty residents of Uncastillo, they shared fears, tried to distract themselves and ate the plate of paella and fresh water that the Red Cross served at the Casino Aragón in Ejea. The place has become an improvised pavilion in which just over 60 beds will be installed to spend the night given the evolution of the fire. It is the capital of the Cinco Villas that has enabled different spaces to welcome residents of Orés, Asín, Luesia, Malpica de Arba and Uncastillo, the five towns in which it has been necessary to evacuate due to the proximity of the fire and smoke.
NEIGHBORS OF ALL AGES
In the Ejea casino, neighbors of all ages gathered on Thursday afternoon. «There are many neighbors who are here but others have also chosen to go to the home of relatives or friends here in Ejea or also in Sádaba or Zaragoza. Each one has chosen what they have considered,» said the residents of Uncastillo. A few kilometres from Ejea, in the Aragonese capital, the oldest residents of Uncastillo, users of the municipality’s residence, also arrived between nervousness and fear at a centre that has not yet been inaugurated in the neighbourhood of Las Delicias.
TheOrés fire declared at noon on Wednesday has already burned just over 6,000 hectares, according to the latest information, forced to evacuate five towns, cut three roads and put an entire region, that of the Cinco Villas, in check. For the moment, the residents of Uncastillo and the rest of the towns remain hopeful of returning «soon» to their homes and with their hearts in a fist at the thought that the wind could change everything and affect, even more, their home.
