A wildfire burning in central Spain has destroyed greater than 500 hectares of forest and scrubland, in accordance with officers on Tuesday.
“The scenario shouldn’t be encouraging,” mentioned Ángel Iglesias, technical director of firefighting within the small city of Mombeltrán, about 95 kilometres west of Madrid.
Firefighters have been battling the blaze, which broke out late Monday, with planes and helicopters, whereas crews on the bottom labored to create firebreaks to forestall the flames from spreading additional.
Nevertheless, sturdy winds continued to fan the flames, a few of which have been a number of metres excessive, Iglesias mentioned, noting that there was numerous flammable vegetation within the mountainous terrain.
The civil defence service introduced on X {that a} firefighter had died on his technique to the scene when his automobile veered off the street.
The world had solely simply recovered from a devastating forest hearth in 2009.
Consultants have been warning that a lot of Spain’s forests will not be being adequately maintained and that extreme rainfall initially of the 12 months has led to a build-up of vegetation, which has dried out within the warmth of the previous few weeks.
“The forests are a powder keg,” forestry knowledgeable Rosendo Castelló advised the newspaper La Vanguardia.
Over the past 50 years, the forest space has elevated by about 20% as a result of agricultural websites have been deserted, he mentioned.
A firefighter and a person watch the forest hearth in Arbo. Adrián Irago/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
