Spain: Forest fires leave at least four people dead
Among the victims was a firefighter who died when the truck he was riding in overturned.
A man watches as flames sweep through the town of Cualedro (Spain)
(AFP) A firefighter was killed when a fire truck overturned in Castile and León, Spain, the regional government reported Monday, bringing the death toll to four in the wave of forest fires that has been raging in the country for more than a week.
The regional government “regrets the death of a member of the firefighting operation” in the “overturning” of a water tanker truck in the province of León, in northwestern Spain, the executive reported on social network X.
The accident happened as the convoy, which included this vehicle, was retreating from the fire to rest on a steep, sloping forest road.
"For some unknown cause, the vehicle approached the slope and overturned, falling down a steeply developing hillside," the government added.
Two other men, both volunteer firefighters, died in Castile and León while battling the flames, and earlier a Romanian employee of a riding center in northern Madrid was killed while trying to protect horses from the fire.
In recent days, more than 173,000 acres have burned in Spain, adding to over 390,000 acres lost since the start of the year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) — figures that continue to climb.
Record number of hectares burned
More than 343,000 hectares have burned in Spain so far this year, a rising figure that already exceeds the total number of hectares burned in the worst year on record, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Until now, 2022 was the worst year in terms of area devastated by flames in Spain, with 306,000 hectares burned.
Portugal holds the European record since records began in 2006, with 563,000 hectares burned in 2017 in fires that caused 119 deaths.
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