The son of a Belgian man who died in fires in Spain disputed authorities’ claims that his father and other victims ignored official advice to shelter in place, and said emergency services did not give them any guidance.
The Belgian virologist Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt said to Reuters who spoke on the phone with his father, the 63-year-old businessman Stanislas Verdonckt, shortly before 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Thursday night, as the fire advanced towards the mountain town of Bédar, in the province of Almería, in southeastern Spain.
Stanislas Verdonckt He was one of eight victims of the wind-fueled fire found dead in a valley below the Paraje el Curato area, where he lived on the outskirts of Bédar, according to his 33-year-old son. Verdonckt, who lives in Belgium, traveled to Spain after the fire and spoke with surviving neighbors.
No one in charge told the group that the fire was heading toward them, or that it would be safer to stay home than flee, Verdonckt said.
“The people who died did not violate any order because no order was given. No information was provided,” he said.
“They only started running when the flames were almost on top of them. That was their absolute last resort.”
Andalusia’s regional government said no SMS alert was sent to residents as recommendations varied depending on their location in mountainous and forested terrain, and on the evolution of a rapidly changing situation.
Local officials and police went door-to-door or called residents with instructions on how to evacuate safely or take shelter in their homes.
In a statement sent to Reuters On Sunday night, the Andalusian government refuted the version of events of Verdoncktand said that the mayor of Bédar, Angel Colladohad urged the group that included Stanislas Verdonckt to shelter in place.
“We understand the pain of the families and respect that, in moments of enormous suffering like these, anger and helplessness in the face of tragedy can induce a different perception of what happened,” the statement said.
In total, 13 people—mainly foreigners like Stanislas Verdonckt and a Spaniard—died while trying to escape the fires when they reached Bédar, located above the municipality of Los Gallardos. Their identities have not been officially confirmed, and another 10 people have been reported missing. The fire, one of the deadliest in Spain, was declared stabilized at noon on Sunday.
A group of neighbors, including his father, first tried to drive away on a paved road Thursday night, but the flames forced them to turn back, he said. Verdonckt.
“They couldn’t pass through the main road because they weren’t warned in advance. Nobody told them that the fire was coming from that direction, and when they tried to leave, it was too late,” he said.
The group then tried to flee by car in the opposite direction along the neighbors’ dead-end dirt road, which runs along the side of a mountain. But they couldn’t get out, they abandoned the vehicles and tried to escape on foot, he said.
“It wasn’t a choice. They drove to the end of the road and when even that was on fire, some people chose to run and try to get into the valley,” he said.
A neighbor who survived in his house told Verdonckt that the flames got close enough to the house to touch it, he said.
Verdonckt He said his father, an avid hiker and photographer, had had a house in the area for many years, knew the terrain well and spoke Spanish.
During your last telephone conversation, Verdonckt He said his father weighed options to protect himself.
Stanislas Verdonckt He always remained calm “even in the most desperate situations” and went over his “plan A, B and C,” he said. Verdonckt.
“My dad is one of the smartest people I know. He’s always very analytical and just checking boxes: ‘Can we do this? Can we do that?'” she said. “At that point, it was just minutes before they would be engulfed in flames and trapped.”
The Andalusian government said it supported the decision of the mayor of Bédar to order its citizens to stay at home, “as it was the option that offered the greatest guarantees of safety given the conditions of the fire, as, unfortunately, the tragic outcome has revealed.”
The regional government also provided photographs to Reuters that, according to the statement, showed that the house of Stanislas Verdonckt It was only slightly damaged by the flames, adding that it “would therefore have been a safe haven.”
