Activation date: 2021-07-23
Event type: Wildfire
Activation reason:
The CEMS Risk and Recovery Standard (RRM STD) has been activated by the Spanish General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies (CENEM) on behalf of the Ministry of Interior of Spain, D. G. Guardia Civil and Jefatura del Seprona, following the forest fire that broke out in La Rioja region (North-Eastern Spain) on 18th July 2021. Within the municipalities of Autol, Grávalos, Quel and Villarroya more than 200 hectares of wooden areas have burnt. The event affected also more than 360 hectares in the lung of La Rioja Baja, but it was managed to save Mount Yerga in Autol and the protected area of the Carrascal de Villarroya. More than 200 people worked in order to extinguish the forest fire, which was finally extinguished two days after.The goal of the activation has been to provide wildfire damage delineation and grading products that will support the police investigation.The P07 Wildfire delineation and grading product has been generated by using post-event VHR satellite images. The analysis resulted in 293 ha burnt, of which 165 ha only slightly damaged, 125 ha moderately damaged, and 2 ha highly damaged.The P14-Impact assessment analysis on assets and population shows that infrastructure assets with higher commercial value are those of the wind power park located along the ridgeline of the hilly forested area inside the AOI. Nine of the 66 wind power generators were directly affected by the fire and 2 others were in proximity to the estimated fire boundary. In terms of area, the broad-leaved forests and sclerophyllous vegetation suffered the highest total damage, but they are also the two most common vegetation types in the AOI. The damage to the agricultural sector was minimal, mostly affecting non-irrigated arable land. No inhabitants were affected by the fire as the region is very sparsely populated.
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (2026): Wildfires in La Rioja, Spain (2021-07-23). [Dataset] doi: 10.2905/JRC.3RTZNW8 PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/02bbed15-ca8d-463a-8170-bf45d57f169f
CEMSCopernicusCopernicus Emergency Management ServiceCopernicus Emergency Management Service Risk and Recovery Mapping ActivationCopernicus EMSCopernicus ServiceEmergencyEmergency ManagementEMSN100ESPMappingRisk and Recovery MappingSpainWildfire
Maps produced in scope of this Copernicus EMS Risk and Recovery Mapping activation downloadable as georeferenced PDFs, TIFFs and JPEGs together with relevant geodatabase (GDB) and complete final report as well.
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