Voice of America
26 Mar 2023, 03:37 GMT+10
BARRACAS, Spain - Spain's first major wildfire of the year scorched more than 4,000 hectares of forest and forced 1,700 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions.
Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind.
'Bad, how am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning. Our animals were there, and no one can tell us anything,' Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who had to leave the village of Puebla de Arenoso, told Reuters.
More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, emergency services said Saturday, forcing 1,500 to leave their homes.
The blaze also spread to the Teruel area of the Aragon region, where 200 people had to be evacuated, authorities said Saturday.
However, they managed to stop the fire from spreading to other areas.
'The surrounding forest has been reached by fire and we don't know how exactly the area looks,' Montse Boronat, from Los Calpes, told Reuters.
Ximo Puig, president of the Valencia region, told reporters the blaze was made more 'voracious' by summer-like temperatures of about 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).
Las Provincias, a regional newspaper, reported police believe that the blaze might have been started by a spark from a machine used to gather brushwood.
A Spanish Civil Guard spokesperson said that an investigation was underway into the cause of the fire.
An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe has raised concern that there could be a repeat of last year's devastating wildfires.
The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along Spain's northeastern Mediterranean coast, increasing the risk of fires, meteorological agency AEMET said last week.
Last year, some 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe, more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, based on European Commission statistics.
In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System.
Get a daily dose of North Korea Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to North Korea Times.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
PALO ALTO/TEL AVIV: The battle for top AI talent has claimed another high-profile casualty—this time at Safe Superintelligence (SSI),...
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...