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Over a thousand people flee as forest fire engulfs 3,000 hectares in Spain

Fire engulfs a vast forest area in Spain's eastern province of Castellon and authorities warn that risk of more fires is “extreme" advising residents to seek shelter at facilities operated by the Red Cross and other charities.

AP

Emergency services in the region said eight towns had been evacuated, including a home for older people in Montan.

More than 1,500 people have been evacuated as a major forest fire raged in Spain’s eastern Castellon province , marking an early start to the nation's fire season amid bone-dry conditions.

Spanish officials said on Friday that the fire had engulfed around 3,000 hectares of land since it broke out yesterday, forcing residents from their homes and into shelters operated by the Red Cross and other charities.

Ximo Puig, the president of the Valencia region that incorporates Castellon, told reporters the fire was “very early in the spring, very voracious from the beginning.”

Puig added that the effects of climate crisis “are undeniable, so the perspective of firefighting must be considered on an annual basis.”

Emergency services in the region said eight towns had been evacuated, including a home for older people in Montan.

As of midday on Friday, 18 planes and helicopters and more than 600 firefighters and soldiers were tackling the fire.

The Spanish military and the nation's ecological transition ministry deployed additional support to try to bring the blaze under control.

The state weather agency, AEMET, tweeted that “unfavorable weather conditions, especially considering the early date of the year, have favored the (fire's) rapid spread." Temperatures were above 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) when the fire broke out, and relative humidity sank below 30% following an unusually dry winter in the area.

'Extreme' risk

The risk of more fires in Castellon was classified as “extreme" on Friday.

Miguel Sandalinas, the mayor of one of the towns affected, said that fallen trees left over from winter and the general lack of care for dried vegetation had given the fire “a lot of ammunition.”

In 2022, wildfires burned through 306,555 hectares of land in Spain, an area almost four times the size of New York City, according to European Union data. Last year was also Spain's hottest since records began.

Despite the extensive planning, early warning surveillance and prediction models, preparing for wildfires remains a huge challenge.

Spain officially entered a period of long-term drought at the end of last year, owing to high temperatures and low rainfall over the past three years.

Spain has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the 1960s, a warming that is noticeable all year round but especially in summer, when average temperatures have risen by 1.6 degrees.

SOURCE: AP