With anticipated spread of wildfire, Spain has activated the European Union’s disaster assistance mechanism, as part of which two firefighting planes have reached the country, yesterday.
With this move, Spain becomes the 5th country, after Bulgaria, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece to seek the bloc’s help as heatwave will last till Monday.
Temperatures in Spain are as high as 44C, and just yesterday, a second volunteer firefighter lost his life; taking the total death toll to three.
Spain’s Interior Minister said that the French Canadair water bomber aircraft, which have arrived yesterday, are not immediately needed but have been stationed because wildfire may spread. He did not rule out the possibility of the need for more firefighting planes.
The French aircrafts have landed in the north-western Galicia region, while thousands of people have been evacuated across the country.
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“The fight against fires knows no borders,” government representative in the region Pedro Blanco said, BBC reported. “French resources are now in Spain to intensify efforts to extinguish forest fires.”
Southern Europe is experiencing harsh summers which have multiplied the fire events. Greece has lost 25,000 acres of land to raging wildfires, since Tuesday.
“We are struck once again by the death of a second volunteer who has lost their life in León,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday, as reported by BBC. “All our love and support go out to their family and friends during this unbearable time.”
So far, ten people have been arrested as Spain investigates the cause of fire. Though natural causes are fuel for the fire, the authorities are not setting aside the possibility of human carelessness, such as barbeques.
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