MADRID: A major forest fire raged in Spain’s eastern Castellon region on Saturday, as authorities evacuated more than 1,500 people from their homes.
People had to flee their homes leaving animals behind during the country’s first major wildfire of the year.
The flames burned more than 4,000 hectares of forest in Spain’s eastern Castellon region in the early start of the wildfire season.
According to the Sky News, the wildfire forced 1,700 villagers to flee their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions.
Residents narrated fleeing their homes, leaving animals behind to face the fire. Antonio Zarzoso, 24, a villager in Puebla de Arenoso, said that their town was burning and their life was burning and their animals were there and no one could tell them anything.
Ove 500 firefighters assisted by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the fire under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, emergency services and authorities concerned said on Saturday.
The wildfire also spread to the Teruel area of the Aragon region, where 200 people were evacuated, authorities said. According to the authorities, firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading to other areas.
Regional newspaper Las Provincias said that police believed the fire may have been started by a spark from a machine used to gather firewood.
A spokeswoman for the Spanish Civil Guard said that a probe was under way into the cause of the fire.
A remarkably dry winter across parts of southern Europe had raised apprehension that there could be a recurrence of last year’s disturbing wildfires.
The weather could be drier and hotter than normal this spring along Spain’s northeastern Mediterranean coast, growing the risk of fires, AEMET, a meteorological agency, said earlier.
Valencia region president Ximo Puig said earlier that the blaze was “too early in the spring and very voracious from the start.”
He said that the effects of climate change “were palpable and the perspective of firefighting should be considered annually.
