Helicopters and firefighters tackle blaze in Lorca countryside
Teams from across the Region joined forces to control the flames near Zarcilla de Ramos
We might be in the thick of winter, but sadly wildfire season has been extended in the Region of Murcia thanks to a very dry autumn. On Tuesday November 11, a forest blaze broke out in Lorca which required two helicopters to extinguish.
Right around 3pm, several panicked residents of Zarcilla de Ramos, a hamlet in the municipality of Lorca, called the 112 emergency service to report that a fire had broken out in some dry and brittle esparto grass and was spreading rapidly through the parched scrub.
The affected area, packed tight with dense vegetation, is the ideal kindling for fires, so two firefighting helicopters were immediately deployed to the scene of the blaze.Two members of the Civil Protection unit from Lorca, six firefighters from the Murcia Region Fire and Rescue Consortium, ten members of the Totana and Zarcilla Forest Brigades, two environmental agents from the General Directorate of Natural Heritage and Climate Action, and the helicopter-transported brigades 010 and 020, with a total of ten forest firefighters, battled the wildfire for more than two hours.
Thankfully, the fire was declared under control by 5.15pm, but several personnel remained in the area to make sure the flames didn’t spark up again.
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Address
C.C Parque Almenara, Camino de Enmedio s/n., Diputacion del Campillo. 30813, Lorca, (Murcia)Tel: 968 46 37 37
Murcia’s second biggest centro comercial has more than just shopping – it’s everything you could want from a day out!
Parque Almenara is one of the largest retail and leisure malls in the Lorca and Águilas area, offering the full ‘all under one roof’ shopping experience, except it is open to the elements!
It has all your favourite brands and shops like Stradivarius and Mango, spread out over two easily accessed levels. There is also a Carrefour, plus larger retail units for electrical products and home and garden goods.
Unlike other shopping centres, Parque Almenara is a shopping mall where the stores are located in a network of streets, like a whole shopping village that covers almost 150,000m2, making it the second largest shopping centre in the Region of Murcia.One of the most striking features of Parque Almenara is its three canvas tents suspended 20 metres above the outdoor area, creating a shaded zone and an oasis of calm right in the middle of the mall.
As well as the opportunity for a day’s retail therapy, Parque Almenara also offers the makings of good night out. There is a 10-pin bowling alley with 20 lanes and an entertainment complex, plus a multiscreen cinema with ten screens showing the latest offerings from Hollywood and the best 3D movies, and even original version English-language films.And with no fewer than eight separate options to grab a bite to eat at the food court, you can stay at the Parque Almenara all day if you want to!
You can even take your dog along with you as pets are allowed into the mall, an animal-friendly place.
How to get there
Parque Almenara is located on the Lorca–Águilas road C-3211 at km 1.9. On a GPS, the coordinates to put in are: N 37º 63´ W -1º 69´
If you’re going by bus, there is a direct bus route that leaves from Apolonia.
