Madrid, July 31, (dpa/GNA) – Hundreds of firefighters and volunteers in Spain, were battling a devastating forest fire to the west of Madrid for the
second consecutive day on Wednesday.
Strong winds were fuelling the flames in the province of Ăvila, where large amounts of combustible undergrowth are found in often inadequately
maintained forests.
Fire brigades are fighting another forest fire in Las Hurdes, in the CĂĄceres region. Around 200 people had to leave their homes as a precaution, Spanish
media cited the police as saying.
Estimates based on data from the European Earth observation system Copernicus, suggested that around 3,000 hectares of forest and bushland in the region
of Cuevas del Valle in Ăvila have already been affected by the flames, the newspaper El PaĂs reported.
The fire broke out shortly before midnight on Monday in the mountainous region for initially unknown reasons. According to media reports, arson cannot
be ruled out.
The fire broke out exactly 16 years to the day after the start of a major forest fire in the same region in 2009, and also in the late evening when
firefighting planes cannot be deployed, in an area where there were neither country houses nor agricultural activities.
In addition to several fire brigades, the military emergency unit UME was deployed. More than 20 firefighting planes and helicopters dropped water over
the fire sites.
On Monday evening, a firefighter lost his life when he veered off the road in his private car on the way to the operation, the civil protection agency
reported on the platform X.
GNA