MADRID (AP) – More than 1,500 people were evacuated as a major forest fire raged in Spain’s eastern Castellon province yesterday, marking an early start to the nation’s fire season amid bone dry conditions.
Local officials said the fire had engulfed around 3,000 hectares of land since it broke out on Thursday, forcing residents from their homes and into shelters operated by the Red Cross and other charities.
President of the Valencia region that incorporates Castellon, Ximo Puig told reporters the fire was “very early in the spring, very voracious from the beginning”.
Puig added that the effects of climate change “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 yesterday, 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 favoured the (fire’s) rapid spread”.
Temperatures were above 25 degree Celsius when the fire broke out, and relative humidity sank below 30 per cent following an unusually dry winter in the area.
The mayor of one of the towns affected, Miguel Sandalinas 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”.
Spain entered a period of long-term drought since last year, owing to high temperatures and low rainfall over the past three years.
