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20-05-2023
MADRID: A wildfire in the western Spanish region of Extremadura has ravaged up to 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) and forced 550 people from their homes with windy weather complicating efforts to bring it under control, according to emergency services.
“They are very strong gusts of wind generating a speed and progress that make efforts to extinguish it difficult,” a commander of the Military Emergency Unit, David Barona, told state TV channel 24H on Friday.
“The smoke plume is spreading at a low altitude making it difficult for air assets to access the area.”
Up to 250 firefighters are fighting the blaze in an area called Pinofranqueado, in Caceres province, near the border with Portugal.
Authorities have ordered the evacuation of as many as 550 people in the villages of Cadalso, Descargamaría and Robledillo de Gata.
Natural causes sparked the fire, according to authorities.
“It’s a very large attack on vegetation and the area,” the head of Extremadura emergency services Nieves Villar told reporters.
An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe coming after three years of below-average rainfall in Spain has raised the risk of wildfires.
About 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares (about 760,000 acres) in Spain last year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Spain’s first major wildfire of the year has destroyed more than 30sq km (11.5sq miles) of forest and forced 1,500 residents to abandon their homes, authorities said.
The evacuations took place in eastern Valencia on Thursday and Friday, state television RTVE reported, citing officials.
More than 500 firefighters supported by 18 planes and helicopters worked throughout the night and on Friday to tackle the blaze near the village of Villanueva de Viver.
Emergency services evacuated eight communities, said Gabriela Bravo, the regional head of interior affairs.
Power was cut in some areas and at least three roads were closed by the authorities.
“We were told to leave as quickly as possible. We grabbed pyjamas and that was that,” an elderly woman told RTVE. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
