Spain Races to Contain Blazes Before New Heatwave
Authorities said the blazes have burned 77,000 hectares and killed 13 people as firefighters race to contain them before temperatures rise.
- On Monday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska called Monday and Tuesday "absolutely decisive days" for Spanish authorities to control wildfires before a new heatwave begins Tuesday.
- Since the year began, fires have ravaged 150,000 hectares across Spain, killing 13 people, while wildfires near the capital forced 60,000 residents to flee their homes.
- Volunteer Karim Benali described devastation in Navaluenga where "some 48 homes" burned, while residents near Cebreros lost olive and pistachio groves to the inferno.
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the fires as "the most painful expression of a climate emergency," blaming global warming and urging citizens to "exercise extreme caution."
- According to meteorological agency Aemet, extreme danger levels will persist through at least Sunday, with high temperatures, gusty winds, and low humidity expected to hinder firefighting efforts.
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European wildfires rage as another heatwave looms
What happenedOngoing massive wildfires in southwestern France and central Spain have forced nearly 400,000 people to evacuate. The French blazes have scorched an “area four times the size of Paris,” The Associated Press said, and are spreading toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. Near Madrid, the “biggest wildfire in Spain’s recent history” has burned around 200 square miles of countryside, Reuters said. Firefighters are racing to contain th…
Spain faces 'decisive' two days to contain wildfires as new heatwave looms
Spain has two crucial days in front of it to bring wildfires under control before weather conditions worsen, authorities said Monday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on citizens to "exercise extreme caution" ahead of a new heatwave.
On Monday, progress has been made in the fight against fires in Spain and France. Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, however, warns of premature optimism. "The situation in the fires is improving, but only slowly" he said. According to initial findings, the fire in Ávila was probably triggered by agricultural work. A man is said to have used heavy equipment despite prohibitions (due to high temperatures) and thus triggered the f…
BT
From Wednesday, the weather appears to make it more difficult to extinguish wildfires in Spain, says the Minister of the Interior.
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