BARCELONA, June 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Spanish forest fire raged out of
control Thursday amid a European heatwave, devouring land as hundreds of
firefighters battled through the night, local authorities said.
The blaze broke out Wednesday afternoon in Torre del Espanol in the
northeastern region of Catalonia and by Thursday had destroyed more than
5,500 hectares (13,500 acres), the regional government said.
The fire could eventually devour 20,000 hectares in what was presented as
an “extreme risk”, a statement said.
The blaze raged several kilometres from the Asco nuclear plant but
officials said the site was not at risk since winds were blowing the flames
away from it.
“The difficulties are such that we can’t talk about a fire that is under
control or in the extinction phase, but rather that we’re at a moment when
the blaze is getting bigger,” regional interior minister Miquel Buch told
Catalan radio.
Some 350 firefighters backed by around 120 soldiers and 15 aerial tanker
aircraft were at the scene of the blaze, the worst in Catalonia in the last
20 years.
Buch said it might have been caused by “an accumulation of manure in a
farm that generated enough heat to explode and generate sparks.”
The fire spread quickly due to strong winds and soaring temperatures.
Firefighters said that the heat, and steep terrain that make it hard to
reach the flames, were hampering efforts to control the blaze.
“It’s complicated. We won’t get it stabilised today,” regional
firefighting chief Manuel Pardo told Spanish public television.
Around 30 people have been evacuated from their homes and five roads have
been shut, the regional government said. Many evacuees told Spanish media
they fled with just the clothes on their backs.
The charred land includes vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees.
Meteorologists blame a blast of hot air from northern Africa for scorching
temperatures early in the European summer, which could send thermometers
above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in France, Spain and Greece on
Thursday and Friday.