Emergency services in Spain announced today, Friday, that "a wildfire has destroyed up to 3,700 acres in the Extremadura region of western Spain, forcing 550 people to evacuate their homes amid stormy weather that hinders firefighting efforts."
David Barona, a commander in the military emergency unit, stated, "There are strong winds blowing, making the fire spread faster and more broadly, complicating efforts to extinguish it," noting that "low-hanging smoke clouds complicate access for aerial resources to the area."
Neives Piar, the head of emergency services in Extremadura, remarked that "this is a major assault on cultivated land and the region."
Authorities suspect that the fire was intentionally set.
They ordered the evacuation of up to 550 people from the villages of Cadaslo, Discarghamaria, and Rubledio de Gata.
The risk of wildfires has increased following an unusually dry winter in parts of southern Europe, which followed three consecutive years of below-average rainfall in Spain.
The European Forest Fire Information System reported that nearly 493 wildfires destroyed record areas, totaling over 758,000 acres in Spain last year.
