Wildfires can be seen in Benajabis, Spain. June 8, 2022.Reuters / Jon Nazca TPX Today’s Image
Madrid: The emergency agency deployed about 1,000 firefighters, military personnel and support crews on Thursday to fight wildfires in southern Spain.
Spain’s AEMET Meteorological Agency said the country could be on the verge of heat waves, so authorities competed with time in the dry hills of Andalusia. Temperatures were well above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and were expected to rise over the weekend.
According to the local fire service Infoca and the Andalusian local government, the crew saw the flames subside and tried to take advantage of lower temperature and higher humidity conditions all night. Seven water drop helicopters and regulators were waiting.
According to officials, Spanish emergency military units have been assigned to assist civilian troops in serious incidents, sending 233 personnel and more than 80 vehicles to the area.
As a precautionary measure, people evacuated from five different locations throughout Malaga, most of them to relatives and local hotels, officials said.
The flames injured three firefighters after they broke out in a gust on Wednesday. One suffered burns on 25% of his body.
Last year’s worst wildfire in Spain struck the same rugged area inland from the coastal resort of Marbella. About 10,000 hectares (24,00 acres) burned before the fire was finally extinguished 46 days later. One firefighter died in flames.
