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Firefighters battle to control huge wildfire in Spain’s Valencia region

Some 300 firefighters spent a difficult night battling a huge wildfire in southeastern Spain that has burnt through nearly 10,000 hectares in an area notoriously difficult to access, officials said Tuesday.

Published: 16 August 2022 13:45 CEST
Firefighters battle to control huge wildfire in Spain's Valencia region
This year's fires in Spain have been particularly devastating, destroying more than three times the area consumed by wildfires in the whole of 2021. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

The fire began when lightning hit the Vall de Ebo area in the province of Alicante late Saturday and it has since spread rapidly, fuelled by strong winds, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people, Valencia’s regional government said.

“It’s been a very complicated night,” regional interior minister Gabriela Bravo told Antena 3 television, saying some 300 firefighters were battling the flames, backed by 24 planes and helicopters.

“At the moment we are talking about more than 9,500 hectares burnt with a perimeter of 65 kilometres (40 miles),” regional president Ximo Puig said late Monday, describing the blaze as “absolutely huge”.

“It’s a very complicated situation… The fire is creating enormous difficulties that are absolutely impossible to tackle with the speed we would like.”

Firefighters elsewhere in the region were also battling two other wildfires north of Valencia city, with hundreds of firefighters and at least 10
firefighting planes engaged in the operation, officials said.

Further north, firefighters in the Aragon region were hoping to bring under control another major blaze that broke out Saturday that has burnt more than 6,000 hectares of land, forcing at least 1,500 people from their homes.

So far this year, Spain has suffered 391 wildfires, fuelled by scorching temperatures and drought conditions, which have destroyed a total of 271,020 hectares of land, according to the latest figures from the European Forest Fire Information System.

This year’s fires in Spain have been particularly devastating, destroying more than three times the area consumed by wildfires in the whole of 2021, which amounted to 84,827 hectares, the figures show.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events, including heatwaves and droughts, more frequent and intense. They in turn increase the risk of fires, which emit climate-heating greenhouse gases.

Fires have blazed across Europe, particularly in France, Greece and Portugal, making 2022 a record year for wildfires on the continent.

In Portugal, a wildfire brought under control last week reignited Tuesday in the UNESCO-designated Serra da Estrela natural park, the civil protection agency said.

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WILDFIRES

Wildfire in eastern Spain flares up again as new blaze threatens natural park

A major wildfire in the Valencian municipality of Bejís that has already destroyed vast swathes of land gathered pace again on Thursday night despite heavy rainfall, as another fire started on Friday inside a nearby natural park.

Published: 19 August 2022 11:53 CEST
Wildfire in eastern Spain flares up again as new blaze threatens natural park

So far this year, Spain has suffered nearly 400 wildfires following punishing heatwaves and long dry spells that have devastated more than 283,000 hectares of land, more than three times the total area destroyed in 2021.

Over the past week, hundreds of firefighters have been battling two major wildfires raging out of control in the Valencia region.

A bout of heavy rainfall offered some respite, almost totally extinguishing the flames.

READ MORE: Heavy rainfall helps contain huge wildfires in Spain’s Valencia region

Although it put an end to the Vall d’Ebo fire near Benidorm, the Bejís blaze some 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Valencia city, flared up again and burning its way towards the Sierra Calderona natural park.

It has already destroyed 19,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land.

“The fire advanced slowly during the night except in… areas to the southeast where it has raged more aggressively,” the emergency services tweeted, indicating 35 aerial firefighting teams were trying to contain the blaze.

WATCH: Passengers trapped on train engulfed by flames during huge wildfire in Spain

“There are flames all along the perimeter,” it added.

The UME military firefighting said on Twitter it had been an “intense night” in Bejís, posting images of huge flames.

“It’s a very big fire with a perimeter stretching more than 120 kilometres so we’ve using all the means we have to contain the fire,” Mariano Hernández, one of the provincial fire chiefs, told public television.

Early on Friday another blaze began at Olocau inside the Sierra Calderona park, some 40 kilometres southeast of Bejis, the emergency services said.

It added that local residents had been “confined to their homes as a preventative measure”.

The Vall d’Ebo fire began on Saturday and the Bejís blaze two days later, forcing some 3,000 people to be evacuated in total.

So far this year, Spain has been hit by 391 wildfires, the latest figures from the European Forest Fire Information System show.

The fires have destroyed more than three times the area consumed by wildfires in the whole of 2021, which totalled over 84,000 hectares, the figures show.

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