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Spain fights huge forest fire as European heatwave intensifies Spain battles biggest wildfires in 20 years as heatwave grips Europe
(about 4 hours later)
More than 500 firefighters and soldiers are working to bring a huge forest fire under control in north-eastern Spain as the early summer heatwave intensifies across Europe. Firefighters battled wildfires at a scale not seen for 20 years in Spain as much of western Europe sweltered in an extreme early-summer heatwave on Thursday.
The fire, in the Catalan province of Tarragona, has been fanned by strong winds and high temperatures and has so far burned across 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of land. With temperatures in northern Spain and southern France set to exceed 44C, governments urged their citizens to take the utmost precaution, warning that in some areas the worst was yet to come.
Fifty-three residents have been evacuated from their homes, five roads remain cut off and the civil protection authorities have advised people not to enter the area unless absolutely necessary. The conditions led officials to raise the French extreme heat alert to red. The alert, signifying a “dangerous weather phenomenon”, was the first since the system was introduced in 2004 following a 2003 heatwave that led to 15,000 premature deaths.
There are reports that hundreds of sheep have died in the smoke and flames. It was issued for the four southern départements of Hérault, Gard, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. “All members of the public should be concerned, even those who are in good health,” the interior ministry warned.
In Spain, more than 500 firefighters and soldiers struggled to bring a huge forest fire under control in the Catalan province of Tarragona that has so far burned across 5,500 hectares (12,355 acres) of land.
Fifty-three people have been evacuated from their homes, five roads remain cut off and the civil protection authorities have advised people not to enter the area unless absolutely necessary. Hundreds of sheep have died in the smoke and flames.
“We’re facing a serious fire on a scale not seen for 20 years,” the region’s interior minister, Miquel Buch, said in a tweet. “It could burn through 20,000 hectares. Let’s be very aware that any carelessness could lead to a catastrophe.”“We’re facing a serious fire on a scale not seen for 20 years,” the region’s interior minister, Miquel Buch, said in a tweet. “It could burn through 20,000 hectares. Let’s be very aware that any carelessness could lead to a catastrophe.”
The head of the regional fire service said it was hard to be optimistic. “The terrain is complicated, which causes a lot of problems, and the weather conditions aren’t favourable,” David Borrell told Catalunya Ràdio. “That’s tiring us out and meaning we have to work hard to achieve our objectives.”
The 350 local firefighters battling the blaze have been joined by 221 specialists from Spain’s military emergency unit, as well as planes, helicopters, tractors and other heavy machinery.The 350 local firefighters battling the blaze have been joined by 221 specialists from Spain’s military emergency unit, as well as planes, helicopters, tractors and other heavy machinery.
In a statement early on Thursday morning, the Catalan government said the fire was expected to spread as temperatures climbed throughout the day and was on course to burn through 20,000 hectares. As people across Europe sought out rivers, lakes, fountains and swimming pools to stay cool, authorities in Milan, in northern Italy, said a 72-year-old homeless man had died at the city’s main train station after falling ill due to the heatwave.
“From the initial moments, the fire spread rapidly in a north-easterly direction, driven by the wind,” it said. “Last night the fire had affected some 3,600 hectares across several municipalities.” The French health minister, Agnès Buzyn, said the peak of the heatwave would not hit the south of the country before Friday and expressed irritation that despite an increase in the number of calls to emergency services, some people did not appear to be heeding health warnings.
The head of the regional fire service said it was “hard to be optimistic” at the moment. “The terrain is complicated, which causes a lot of problems, and the weather conditions aren’t favourable,” David Borrell told Catalunya Ràdio. “That’s tiring us out and meaning we have to work hard to achieve our objectives.” “We see citizens who are quite irresponsible and continue to go jogging between midday and 2:00 pm,” Buzyn said, also complaining of parents leaving their children in the car while doing shopping.
The fire is thought to have started in poorly stored chicken manure on a farm in the Torre de l’Espanyol municipality of Tarragona. The average high of 39.4C on Wednesday broke France’s previous June record, Météo-France said, adding that the country’s all-time highest temperature of 44.1C – recorded on 12 August 2003 at two spots in the Gard département – would probably be surpassed.
“Our main theory is that a heap of dung self-combusted, producing a flame that spread, reaching fuel and starting the fire,” Marc Costa, the head of the regional wildlife rangers, told the Catalan radio station RAC-1. Germany also broke its June temperature record, which dated back to 1947, with a 38.6C reading in Coschen near the Polish border. At least four people died in bathing accidents in different parts of the country on Wednesday, authorities said.
On Wednesday night Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, thanked the emergency workers for their efforts, adding: “Concerned by the reports reaching us from Tarragona and for the families that have been evacuated.” Water restrictions were imposed in North Rhein Westphalia, although there was some relief in northern Germany on Thursday as temperatures fell to levels more typical for June. In Berlin the temperature was 26C on Thursday afternoon, down from around 37C on Wednesday.
Temperatures in some of Spanish regions are expected to rise above 43C (109F) on Thursday and Friday. Parts of northern France were also put on drought alert, with water supplies to businesses, farmers and ordinary residents restricted. The agriculture minister, Didier Guillaume, banned the transportation of all animals until the heatwave has ended.
Forecasters have said temperatures could reach 45C in parts of the continent by Saturday as a plume of hot air moves north from the Sahara, sucked northwards by a stalled storm over the Atlantic and high pressure in central Europe. Most schools in Paris would stay open until the summer holidays started on Friday afternoon, authorities said, but many childcare facilities were closed and 59 primary schools were shut in the Essonne département outside the capital.
Parts of Britain are expected to experience hot temperatures on Saturday, with a high of 32C expected in London. In Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg, authorities banned older cars with higher emissions levels from the roads in an attempt to offset a peak in air pollution, while the French hotel group Accor opened its air-conditioned lobbies to the elderly until Saturday.
“Calls to the emergency services are on the rise nationwide. We are seeing the beginning of a clear impact of the heatwave,” Jérôme Saloman, head of public health in France, said. “For us, the worst is still to come.”
Parts of Britain are also expected to experience hot temperatures on Saturday, with a high of 32C expected in London.
Scientists have said Europe’s 2019 heatwave, like last year’s, was closely linked to the climate emergency and that such extreme weather events will be many times more likely over the coming decades.
SpainSpain
WildfiresWildfires
Natural disasters and extreme weatherNatural disasters and extreme weather
EuropeEurope
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