Madrid: 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 vila, where large amounts of combustible undergrowth are found in often inadequately maintained forests.
According to Ghana News Agency, fire brigades are also contending with another forest fire in Las Hurdes, in the C¡ceres region. Around 200 people had to evacuate their homes as a precaution, as reported by Spanish media citing police sources. Estimates from the European Earth observation system Copernicus indicated that approximately 3,000 hectares of forest and bushland in the region of Cuevas del Valle in vila have already been ravaged by the flames, the newspaper El Pas reported.
The fire ignited shortly before midnight on Monday in the mountainous region for initially unknown reasons, with media reports suggesting that arson cannot be ruled out. The fire coincidentally broke out exactly 16 years to the day after the start of another major forest fire in the same region in 2009, and similarly occurred in the late evening when firefighting planes cannot be deployed, in an area devoid of country houses or agricultural activities.
In response, several fire brigades and the military emergency unit UME have been deployed. More than 20 firefighting planes and helicopters have been engaged in dropping water over the fire sites. Tragically, on Monday evening, a firefighter lost his life in a road accident involving his private car on the way to the operation, as reported by the civil protection agency on the platform X.
