Spanish soldiers sent to fight wildfires

JUBRIQUE, Spain — Soldiers were deployed Sunday in southeastern Spain to join the battle against a major wildfire that is burning for a fourth day, invigorated by stray embers that sparked a new hot spot.

The blaze in Malaga province has destroyed nearly 17,300 acres of forest and prompted fresh evacuations, bringing the total number of residents displaced to around 2,500.

Plan Infoca, the Andalusia region’s agency in charge of firefighting efforts, described Sunday as a “key day” for bringing the blaze under control.

Authorities on Sunday preventively removed nearly 1,500 residents from the towns of Jubrique, Genalguacil and four other villages. More than 1,000 other people had been evacuated before the weekend from areas around the resort town of Estepona, which is popular among tourists and foreign expats.

An emergency brigade traveled from a military base in southern Spain to join more than 300 firefighters and 41 water-dropping aircraft battling the flames.

But firefighters like Rafael Fanega, who said the blaze was still “out of control,” called for more boots on the ground to battle the flames.

“I don’t see enough deployed personnel,” Fanega said. “Some may see it differently, but that’s how I see it.”

Some progress was seen on Saturday, when authorities said better weather conditions had helped them stabilize the perimeter of the blaze.

A combination of hot and dry temperatures with strong winds created a perfect storm, turning the blaze that started late Wednesday into a “hungry monster,” Alejandro Garcia, deputy operational chief of Plan Infoca, said.