A violent forest fire is raging in the south of Spain. An expert gives little hope of an improvement in the situation. Quite a few people are fighting the flames.
Madrid – Enormous forest fires and violent temperatures will cause a stir in 2021. The Greek island of Evia in particular caught the flames in August. The people fought bitterly against the fires *. Spain is not spared from such a catastrophe either. A particularly violent fire has raged on the Costa del Sol since Wednesday (September 8th). Thousands of people are trying to get the flames under control.
Severe forest fire in Spain: more than 1,600 people evacuated
6000 hectares of forest were destroyed on the Costa des Sol in southern Spain. That corresponds to an area of more than 8000 soccer fields. Because of the flames that had been blazing since Wednesday evening at the foot of the Sierra Bermeja mountain range in the Andalusia region, two other communities, Júzcar and Alpandeire, had to be evacuated on Sunday. The emergency service announced. The number of people who had to be brought out of their homes and to safety since Thursday rose to 1620. It was not initially announced whether there were also tourists among them.
Forest fire on the Costa del Sol “impossible to fight”
“There had not been such a forest fire in Andalusia and probably also in Spain for years”, said the Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno. VÃctor Resco, professor of forest engineering at the University of Lleida, said on the radio that the cloud of fire was like a storm. They can form new fire fronts through electrical discharges. The expert does not give much hope that the situation will improve. Such a forest fire is “impossible to fight”.
Due to the complicated situation, the military emergency aid unit UME has been supporting the fire brigade and civil protection with the extinguishing work since Sunday. According to official information, a total of 6,000 people were deployed in the affected region near the coastal community of Estepona and around 80 kilometers southwest of Málaga. A 44-year-old firefighter died on Thursday.
“Voracious monster”: forest fire rages in Spain – cause initially unknown
A heat record was broken in Spain in August *. Even now, the high temperatures of up to 30 degrees, the dryness and strong winds are said to make the extinguishing work more difficult. According to a local official, the fire resembles a “voracious monster,” as br.de reported.
Because of the thick smoke, the AP7 motorway, which is also very busy with tourists in summer, had to be closed again and again in the past few days. The cause of the forest fire was initially unknown. (dpa / mbr) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
