Spain's first major fire of year destroys 3,000 hectares

Record ID: 1717154

  • Title: Spain's first major fire of year destroys 3,000 hectares
  • Date: 24th March 2023
  • Summary: WOMAN SHOWING IMAGE OF WILDFIRE ON PHONE
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2023 15:50
  • Keywords: Europe Spain Spain PM Sanchez blaze climate change evacuated people fire firefighters weather wildfires
  • Location: VILLANUEVA DE VIVER, SPAIN AND BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • City: VILLANUEVA DE VIVER, SPAIN AND BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Wildfires/Forest Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA004004524032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Spain's first major wildfire of the year raged in the eastern Valencia region on Friday (March 24), destroying more than 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest and forcing 1,500 residents to abandon their homes, authorities said.
    "We are facing the first big fire of this year, unfortunately. And furthermore, it is taking place out of season," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news conference in Brussels.
    Firefighters using 18 planes and helicopters worked throughout the night and on Friday to tackle the blaze near the village of Villanueva de Viver, in the Valencia region.
    Emergency services evacuated eight communities, the regional head of interior affairs ,Gabriela Bravo, said.
    Some of the evacuees were afraid the flames could reach their homes, but authorities said the blaze did not reach the villages so far.
    An unusually dry winter across parts of the south of the European continent has reduced moisture in the soil and raised fears of a repeat of 2022, when 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe - more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, according to European Commission (EC) statistics.
    In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System.
    Spain is experiencing a long-term drought after three years of below-average rainfall.
    The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along Spain's northeastern Mediterranean coast, increasing the risk of wildfires, meteorological agency AEMET told Reuters last week.
    (Production: Lorena Sopena, Elena Rodriguez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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