Spain and Germany battle wildfires amid heatwave
Firefighters in Spain and Germany struggled to contain wildfires yesterday amid an unusual heatwave in Western Europe for this time of year.
The worst damage in Spain has been in the northwest province of Zamora, where more than 30,000ha have been consumed, regional authorities said, while German officials said that residents of three villages near Berlin were ordered to leave their homes because of an approaching wildfire yesterday.
Spanish authorities said that after three days of high temperatures, high winds and low humidity, some respite came with dropping temperatures. That allowed for about 650 firefighters supported by waterdumping aircraft to establish a perimeter around the fire that started in Zamora’s Sierra de la Culebra. Authorities warned there was still danger that an unfavourable shift in weather could revive the blaze that caused the evacuation of 18 villages.
Spain has been on alert for an outbreak of intense wildfires as the country swelters under record temperatures at many points in the country for June. Experts link the abnormally hot period for Europe to climate change. Thermometers have risen above 40C in many Spanish cities — temperatures usually expected in August.
A lack of rainfall this year combined with gusting winds have produced the conditions for the fires.
The fire in Zamora was started by a strike from an electrical storm on
Thursday, authorities said. Military firefighting units have been deployed in Zamora, Navarra and Lleida.
There have been no reports of lives lost, but the flames reached the outskirts of some villages both in Zamora and in Navarra. In other villages, residents looked on in despair as black plumes rose from nearby hills.
In central-north Navarra, authorities have evacuated 15 small villages as a precaution, as the high temperatures in the area are not expected to drop until Thursday.
Wildfires were also active in three parts of northeast Catalonia: in Lleida, in Tarragona and in a nature park in Garaf, just south of Barcelona.
Firefighters said 2700ha were scorched in Lleida. They added that they have responded to more than 200 different wildfires just in Catalonia over the past week.
Germany has also seen numerous wildfires in recent days following a period of intense heat and little rain. The country’s national weather agency said the mercury reached 39.2C in the eastern cities of Dresden and Cottbus yesterday.
Strong winds have been fanning a blaze near the town of Treuenbrietzen, about 50km southwest of Berlin, prompting officials to order three villages evacuated. —AP