Spain
Hundreds of people were evacuated due to the forest fire
An official from the affected region, Extremadura, assured that the fire was “intentional”. The evolution of the fire is unfavorable, according to firefighters, especially due to the weather.
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The fire is advancing and its evolution is “unfavorable,” the National Security Directorate said, warning that adverse weather conditions will continue in the coming hours.
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In western Spain, more than 550 people have been evacuated due to a large forest fire, authorities announced Friday, sending in a military unit specializing in the fight against large fires. The fire, which broke out Wednesday near the town of Pinofrancuato in the Extremadura region, not far from the border with Portugal, “spread overnight from Thursday to Friday” and prompted the evacuation of people in areas close to the fire. Directorate of National Security (DSN).
The fire is advancing and its evolution is “unfavorable,” the DSN added, warning that adverse weather conditions will continue in the coming hours.
More than a thousand hectares were burnt
In a sign of the seriousness of the situation, the government deployed nearly 165 soldiers from the Emergency Military Unit (UME), an army force specialized in managing natural disasters like major fires, to join the already embattled firefighters. Against the flames.
“There is a lot of strong wind,” which “makes it very difficult to put out the fire,” UME commander David Barona announced on public television TVE, Friday morning, estimating that the flames had already burned out. 1000 and 1500 ha.
Historic drought
According to the regional government of Extremadura, more than 275 professionals were supported by air on Friday morning in the fight against the fire. Pecona García, the regional government’s head of agriculture, assured that the fire was “intentional”. The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, tweeted Thursday evening that he was following “the evolution of the fire very closely.”
Although summer has not yet begun, Spain, which is facing a historic drought after three years of below-average rainfall, has already experienced several fires in recent weeks.
In 2022, the darkest year for forest fires in Europe, it was the worst-hit European country, with nearly 500 fires ravaging more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
(AFP)
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