Firefighters work to contain the largest fire in Spain this year
Spain’s largest forest fire this year has burned nearly 16,000 hectares and is still burning, but authorities hope to contain it by Sunday. More than 1,100 people have been evacuated as firefighters continue their efforts to extinguish the fire, according to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.The fire, which broke out Wednesday in the Cinco Villas area, remained “very active” with “significant” spread throughout the night into Friday, authorities said. The authorities were forced to evacuate five municipalities in Zaragoza and one in neighboring Navarre, and were spread out in a circumference of about 60 kilometers. It is now supposedly facing the “final phase” of firefighting efforts, although officials remain cautious due to extremely variable winds.
Several roads remain closed.About 400 ground personnel and 19 aircraft were deployed to fight the blaze on Thursday, with firefighters focusing throughout the night on protecting homes in Oncastillo. Electricity was restored to all affected towns.“The problem with this extinction and the problem with all the extinctions that have happened in the last few days is that there are very variable winds that keep shifting,” said Luis Bendicho, Minister of Environment and Tourism.
“The forecast is exactly the same as we had yesterday afternoon and the same for tomorrow, which makes us even more cautious.”
Multiple forest fires across Spain
The Aragon Fire is one of several forest fires burning across Spain during a period of extreme heat and dry weather.A forest fire in the northern province of Guadalajara remained active after burning about 900 hectares, prompting evacuations and lockdown measures. The regional government requested the deployment of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit, which sent about 100 personnel to assist in firefighting operations.A third forest fire near Luziola, north of Madrid, was not completely contained and burned nearly 70 hectares of land. Authorities have arrested a man suspected of starting a fire in the Madrid area.
What starts fires
High temperatures, strong winds, low humidity, and an abundance of vegetation after a rainy spring contributed to the spread of fires. Experts also point to climate change and rural depopulation as factors that increase the risk of wildfires.Successive early summer heatwaves, which many scientists blame on human-induced climate change, have raised temperatures to unprecedented levels across Europe, causing water shortages, crop destruction, wildfires, and thousands more deaths than usual.
