Spanish wildfire hero dies three months after being engulfed in flames

Record ID: 1694506

  • Title: Spanish wildfire hero dies three months after being engulfed in flames
  • Date: 25th October 2022
  • Summary: TABARA, ZAMORA PROVINCE, SPAIN (FILE - JULY 18, 2022) (REUTERS) HOUSE SURROUNDED BY BLAZE FIRE BURNING VEGETATION AND SMOKE BILLOWING FIREFIGHTER OBSERVING FIRE BURNING VEGETATION HARVESTER PREPARING FIREWALL AND BLAZE IN THE BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL MECHANIC JUAN LOZANO, FRIEND OF THE BURNING MAN, SAYING: “Here we seem to have it under control, but a friend of mine has burnt his digging machine and he must have hurt himself, he has been burnt, they have taken him (to hospital) in a helicopter and we will see what happens.” AIRPLANE AND HELICOPTER FLYING OVER WILDFIRE VARIOUS OF MAN REFRESHING HOUSE WITH HOSE TO PROTECT FROM CATCHING FIRE LOCALS REFRESHING THE AREA FIRE ENGINE ARRIVING AT AREA TANKER UNLOADING WATER OVER WILDFIRE FIREFIGHTERS TRYING TO PUT OUT FIRE FIREFIGHTERS AND FLAMES IN THE BACKGROUND BLAZE AND SMOKING BILLOWING SURROUNDING HOUSE TABARA, ZAMORA PROVINCE, SPAIN (FILE - JULY 19, 2022) (REUTERS) DIGGER USED BY ANGEL MARTIN ARJONA WHEN HE WAS ENGULFED BY FLAMES MELTED PLASTIC AROUND DIGGER'S LIGHT POLICE INSPECTING DIGGER POLICE TAKING PICTURES OF DIGGER VARIOUS OF POLICE WALKING INTO SCORCHED AREA AND ON PATH MARKED BY DIGGER WHERE ARJONA AND DIGGER WERE ENGULFED
  • Embargoed: 8th November 2022 10:25
  • Keywords: Angel Martin Arjona Spanish wildfire hero burning man man killed by the flames wildfire hero wildfire in Spain
  • Location: TABARA, SPAIN
  • City: TABARA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Wildfires/Forest Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA001456225102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A Spanish man who suffered 80% burns to his skin last summer as he dug a trench to stop a wildfire from reaching his hometown has died from his injuries three months later, his friend said on Tuesday (October 25).
    Angel Martin Arjona, 50, the owner of a construction warehouse in Tabara, was seen abandoning his digger and running through a field with his clothes alight after it was engulfed in flames on July 18.
    His friend Jose Manuel Taba confirmed he died on Monday (October 24) after being sedated for three months in a hospital in Valladolid central Spain.
    The blaze started in Losacio in the northwestern province of Zamora on July 17.
    It was one of the biggest in Spain in 2022, burning around 26,182 hectares. Four people died, including Arjona.
    Climate change is exacerbating fires as an increasing number of heatwaves create conditions that help them spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely. Hotter weather saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into dry fuel - a problem exacerbated by shrinking workforces in rural areas of Spain that are needed to clear vegetation.
    So far this year 260,000 hectares (642473.99 acres) has been destroyed by fires across Spain, making it the worst year for wildfires in almost three decades, according to government figures.
    Wildfires throughout Europe have burned 775,941 hectares this year, the second-largest area on record, according to data from the European Union's Joint Research Centre.
    (Production: Guillermo Martinez, Silvio Castellanos, Emma Pinedo)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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