Crews battle wildfire in Spain for fifth day

MADRID – Firefighting crews near southern Spain’s Costa del Sol were hoping for much-needed rainfall Monday to help them extinguish a major wildfire that has ravaged 19,000 acres in five days and forced the evacuations of 2,600 people.

Authorities are describing the blaze in Sierra Bermeja, a mountain range in Malaga province, as an extreme “megafire” brought on by climate change — a catastrophic event that kills, blackens large areas and is difficult to stop.

In Spain, that’s paired with rural depopulation, leading to poorer management of forests and the accumulation of burnable material.

“We are facing the most complex fire known by the forestry extinction services in recent years,” Juan Sánchez, director of the southern Andalusia region’s firefighting service, told reporters late Sunday.

“We have been talking a lot about the consequences of the abandonment of rural areas and climate change,” Sánchez added. “We are seeing them today.”

The scorched area has doubled since Saturday, when authorities said the flames were contained within a perimeter of 25 miles. But embers ignited another hot spot soon after, causing a new wildfire that eventually joined the previous blaze, experts said Sunday. By Monday morning, the wildfire’s perimeter had reached 53 miles.

Spain’s weather agency, AEMET, predicted rain in the area later Monday, but it was not clear if the rainfall would be sufficient to quell the flames.

About 650 firefighters were working in shifts on the ground, assisted by 51 water-dropping airplanes and helicopters. They were joined on Sunday by 260 members of a military emergency unit.

Low visibility due to dust and smoke was blamed for an accident Monday involving a firefighters’ helicopter, although none of its 19 occupants were injured. A 44-year-old firefighter died Thursday while trying to extinguish the blaze.

Around 2,600 residents have been evacuated. Those who left areas near the resort town of Estepona were able to return home by Monday, but 1,700 people remained displaced from six villages.