Madrid (TDI): Wildfires in Spain are still raging, as Southern Europe is hit by a scorching heatwave. Additional 500 firefighting troops have been deployed, taking the total number of troops, trying to contain the blaze, to 1900.
The death toll from the fires have reached four, as yet another firefighter lost his life on Sunday, when his truck slipped off a steep area.
In the most affected areas of Spain, Castile and León, five people were injured on the same day; four of whom have critical injuries.
Last week, Spain activated the European Union’s disaster assistance mechanism, as part of which two firefighting planes reached the country, stationed to be used as per need.
The fires are showing little sign and hope of being contained. “Several large fires are still burning in the northwest and west of Spain, where 27,000 residents are currently evacuated from their homes,” BBC reported.
Moreover, there are twelve fires burning in the north-west region of Galicia and a fire in the western province of Cáceres. So far this year, 343,000 hectares of land has burned across Spain, due to these wildfires.
Read More: Spain Becomes 5th Country to Seek EU’s Help With Wildfire
Neighboring Portugal is also fighting active fires since late July, which have heavily affected the center and north of the country.
This summer has also seen Greece, France, Turkey and the Balkans affected by wild fires, which were largely owed to unusually high temperatures. Though in these countries, fires were contained after some effort.
Temperatures in Spain are as high as 44C. Fires are more deadly and vast, difficult to contain and put off. The smoke is causing air quality to deteriorate in affected areas.
So far, ten people have been arrested as Spain investigates the cause of fire. Even an accidental start of wildfire is a criminal offense in Spain.
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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