Firework display organised by town hall sets Cullera mountain ablaze
Monday, April 28, 2014 @ 10:42 AM
A RAGING inferno has broken out in the popular beach holiday town of Cullera (Valencia province) after the town council let off fireworks from the castle.
The procession up to the top of the mountain carrying an effigy of the Virgin ended in terror when a carcass of one of the fireworks ignited and the scrubland on the east and south sides of the hill went up like a tinderbox at around 23.30hrs last night (Saturday).
High winds caused the fire to spread out of control and within minutes, it had engulfed most of the mountain.
Firefighters from eight different brigades managed to bring the flames under control by around 01.00hrs, but at the time of publication, the blaze continues to burn.
It is dangerously close to the San Antonio neighbourhood of the old town, and it is thought that a number of residents had to be evacuated from their homes.
The regional government, the Generalitat Valenciana, had issued a level 3 or pre-emergency warning over the risk of forest fires yesterday morning, given the unseasonally-high temperatures, strong winds and the fact it has barely rained in the last few months.
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