Padrón wildfire burns 350 hectares in Galicia, but rain and calmer winds allow evacuated residents to return
A wildfire that began Friday in Padrón, Galicia, has burned an estimated 350 hectares, but overnight rain and improved winds allowed about 10 evacuated households to return home by Saturday night.
Fire origin and spread
A wildfire ignited on Friday afternoon in the parish of Herbón, Padrón (A Coruña), during a day of unusually high temperatures exceeding 30 °C, which prompted the regional government to activate red-level alert 3. By late Saturday night, the burned area was estimated at 330 hectares, according to the Galician rural affairs department (Consellería do Medio Rural). The fire later spread into the neighbouring municipality of Teo and reached two population centres in the parish of Carcacía, Sobrerribas and Cruxeiras de Abaixo.
Evacuations and emergency response
On Saturday afternoon, as one flank reactivated with the wind, the regional government declared a Situation 2 emergency because the flames approached homes. Around 10 dwellings in Cruxeiras de Abaixo were evacuated as a precaution, mainly due to heavy smoke. The mayor of Padrón, Anxo Arca, confirmed to Europa Press that those residents were able to return to their houses early Saturday night, once the wind direction and intensity had shifted favourably.
During the night, the situation improved a lot. The localised rain, together with the work, made it so that the situation is calm and that the citizenry can lead a normal life.
Despite the improvement, the Xunta de Galicia kept the Situation 2 active on Sunday as a preventive measure. Manuel Francisco Gutiérrez, director xeral de Defensa do Monte, explained that the alert level remains because the area is still experiencing the hottest part of the day and the fire is close to the two nuclei. Evaluations will be carried out throughout Sunday with the aim of lifting the measure.
It is a preventive situation. We are in the most critical moment of the day, with the highest temperature.
Firefighting operations
As of Sunday midday no flames were visible and crews were working to perimeter the affected area with bulldozers. Gutiérrez put the number of personnel on the ground at 100, part of the 500 that his department has mobilised so far. The national Ministry for Ecological Transition (Miteco) is supporting the operation with two amphibious aircraft and one helicopter, coordinated with the Xunta’s own air assets. Firefighting efforts are concentrated on the head of the fire and its right flank, near Cruxeiras de Abaixo.
The trend is that it tends towards stabilisation, but with work ahead.
Xosé Bieito, an agent of the Unidade de Directores de Extinción (UDEX), told Galician television that overnight work and improved weather had helped, but warned that many hot spots remain along the fire’s 15‑kilometre perimeter.
- Fire ignites in Herbón parish, Padrón, during a day of extreme heat over 30 °C.
- Burned area estimated at 330 hectares; one flank reactivates, prompting Situation 2 declaration and evacuation of about 10 homes.
- Residents return home as wind shifts and rain arrives.
- Burned area revised to 350 hectares; no flames visible, crews start perimetring with bulldozers.
- Situation 2 remains preventive; evaluations ongoing, press briefing expected.
Nearby fire in Boborás
A separate wildfire that broke out overnight in Boborás (Ourense) has affected approximately 20 hectares. Gutiérrez ruled out any risk to homes there, though the mayor described the terrain as complex. Operations in Padrón remain the priority, with a press briefing expected Sunday afternoon from the advanced command post.
