Lightning-Sparked Wildfire Above Canòlich in Sant Julià de Lòria Nearing Extinguishment

Firefighters have extinguished a lightning-sparked wildfire above the Canòlich sanctuary in Sant Julià de Lòria, with no injuries reported despite the remote, high-altitude location.

The Andorran fire service received alerts around 11:45am on Thursday after smoke was spotted rising from an area over 2,000 metres high, toward Os de Civís. The blaze, which charred about 500 square metres of vegetation in totally wild terrain, had been ignited by a lightning strike on Monday around 4pm.

Crews first conducted an aerial assessment to pinpoint the fire's location, slope conditions, and fuel type before launching the response. A helicopter dropped water from the air while a helitransported ground team tackled hotspots with hand tools. Operations lasted nearly three hours, with the fire declared out at 2:30pm.

The shift head told El Periòdic that recent storms had dampened vegetation, helping limit spread in the hard-to-reach zone. "It's a completely wild mountainside area at over 2,000 metres, and fortunately no one was hurt," the official said.

No further flare-ups occurred, allowing teams to return to base after confirming the perimeter was secure.