Two killed fighting fires in Spain and Portugal as wildfires ravage peninsula
Both victims died in road accidents, taking the death toll to two in Portugal and four in Spain since the fires broke out in recent weeks.
Spain is in the grips of a third week of heatwave alerts, with the emergency services, backed by specialist army units, battling fires in the northwest and west of the country.
Fires keep burning in southern Europe as army is deployed in Spain
01:21
Neighbouring Portugal has also been trying to put out fires across the country, and both nations have appealed to the European Union for assistance.
The regional government in Castile and Leon, northwestern Spain, wrote on X that one firefighter was killed when his truck flipped over on a steep forest road.
"For an unknown reason, the vehicle approached the embankment and overturned, falling down a steep slope," it added.
Fires across Spain have destroyed more than 70,000 hectares of land in recent days – just under half of the total so far this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).
"This is a fire situation we haven't experienced in 20 years," Defence Minister Margarita Robles told radio station Cadena SER. "The fires have special characteristics as a result of climate change and this huge heatwave."
Robles said things are not likely to improve until the heatwave that has seen temperatures hit 45 Celsius degrees starts easing on Monday evening or Tuesday.
01:35
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited one of the affected regions on Sunday and promised "a national pact" to deal with the climate emergency.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a statement that a firefighter died on Sunday and two of his colleagues were seriously injured.
The latest fatality comes after a former mayor in Guarda, eastern Portugal, died while fighting a fire on Friday.
On Monday morning, around 2,000 firefighters were deployed across northern and central Portugal, with about half mobilised to try to douse flames in the town of Arganil.
Portugal, which has seen nearly 185,000 hectares of land destroyed since the start of the year, is expecting the arrival of two water-bombing aircraft to help firefighting teams on the ground.
The devastation is already bigger than the 136,000 hectares destroyed last year, according to provisional data from the country's forestry institute.
The Iberian peninsula has been particularly affected by a succession of heatwaves and droughts, fuelling forest fires. Experts attribute the increase in temperatures to climate change.
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Spain and Portugal battle wildfires as death toll mounts
The Iberian peninsula has been particularly affected by forest fires fuelled by a succession of heatwaves and droughts blamed on climate change that have hit the southern Mediterranean. Two firefighters were killed on Sunday -- one in each country, both in road accidents -- taking the death toll to two in Portugal and four in Spain. The head of Spain's Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, told broadcaster TVE there were currently 23 "active fires in operation status two", indicating a serious and direct threat to the population. The fires, now in their second week, were concentrated in Galicia, Castile and Leon, and Extremadura regions. In the Ourense province of Galicia, northwestern Spain, signs of the fires were everywhere, from ashen forests and blackened soil to destroyed homes, with thick smoke forcing people to wear facemasks. Firefighters in protective clothing, armed with fire beaters, battled to put out fires, as locals in just shorts and T-shirts used water from hoses and buckets to try to stop the spread. "In my 75 years, I truly mean it, I have never experienced anything like this before," a woman in the town of O Barco de Valdeorras told AFP. Another resident dousing his home with water from a hosepipe described the wildfire that ripped through his area as "like a bomb". "It came from below and it was like a hurricane," he said. "The good thing was that in two minutes it headed up and it didn't stay here long. "If not, our house would have been burnt, it would not have survived." 'Complicated situation' Barcones said she hoped weather conditions would turn to help tackle the fires, as Spain's meteorological agency forecast "the last day of this heatwave", which has seen temperatures hit 45C in parts of the south. Many other places have seen temperatures above 40C. Elsewhere in the southern Mediterranean, the authorities in Turkey said two major fires had been brought under control, while rain and falling temperatures have helped firefighters extinguish dozens of blazes in the Balkans. Spain is being helped with firefighting aircraft from France, Italy, Slovakia and the Netherlands, while Portugal is receiving air support from Sweden and Morocco. "It's a very difficult, very complicated situation," Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told TVE. The size and severity of the fires and the intensity of the smoke -- visible from space -- were making "airborne action" difficult," she added. Officials in Castile and Leon said a firefighter died on Sunday night when the water truck he was driving flipped over on a steep forest road. "For an unknown reason, the vehicle approached the embankment and overturned, falling down a steep slope," the regional government posted on X. Two other volunteer firefighters have died in Castile and Leon, while a Romanian employee of a riding school north of Madrid lost his life trying to protect horses from the fire. In Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said a firefighter died on Sunday night in a traffic accident that left two of his colleagues seriously injured. A former mayor in the eastern town of Guarda died on Friday while trying to tackle a fire. Some 2,000 firefighters were deployed across northern and central Portugal on Monday, with about half of them concentrated in the town of Arbanil. burs-phz/jxb © 2025 AFP
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
Two killed fighting fires in Spain and Portugal as wildfires ravage peninsula
Two firefighters have been killed in Spain and Portugal, the authorities said on Monday, as wildfires ravage the Iberian peninsula during a sweltering heatwave. Both victims died in road accidents, taking the death toll to two in Portugal and four in Spain since the fires broke out in recent weeks. Spain is in the grips of a third week of heatwave alerts, with the emergency services, backed by specialist army units, battling fires in the northwest and west of the country. Fires keep burning in southern Europe as army is deployed in Spain 01:21 Neighbouring Portugal has also been trying to put out fires across the country, and both nations have appealed to the European Union for assistance. The regional government in Castile and Leon, northwestern Spain, wrote on X that one firefighter was killed when his truck flipped over on a steep forest road. "For an unknown reason, the vehicle approached the embankment and overturned, falling down a steep slope," it added. Fires across Spain have destroyed more than 70,000 hectares of land in recent days – just under half of the total so far this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). "This is a fire situation we haven't experienced in 20 years," Defence Minister Margarita Robles told radio station Cadena SER. "The fires have special characteristics as a result of climate change and this huge heatwave." Robles said things are not likely to improve until the heatwave that has seen temperatures hit 45 Celsius degrees starts easing on Monday evening or Tuesday. 01:35 Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited one of the affected regions on Sunday and promised "a national pact" to deal with the climate emergency. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a statement that a firefighter died on Sunday and two of his colleagues were seriously injured. The latest fatality comes after a former mayor in Guarda, eastern Portugal, died while fighting a fire on Friday. On Monday morning, around 2,000 firefighters were deployed across northern and central Portugal, with about half mobilised to try to douse flames in the town of Arganil. Portugal, which has seen nearly 185,000 hectares of land destroyed since the start of the year, is expecting the arrival of two water-bombing aircraft to help firefighting teams on the ground. The devastation is already bigger than the 136,000 hectares destroyed last year, according to provisional data from the country's forestry institute. The Iberian peninsula has been particularly affected by a succession of heatwaves and droughts, fuelling forest fires. Experts attribute the increase in temperatures to climate change.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Spain PM vows 'climate pact' on visit to fire-hit region
Spain is entering its third week of heatwave alerts and firefighters are continuing to battle blazes in the northwest and west of the country, with army units deployed to help contain the flames. France and Italy had earlier sent water bombers to an air base near Salamanca to help with the firefighting efforts. "The government of Spain will work now so that in September we can have the bases of this national pact to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency," said Prime Minister Sanchez during a visit to Ourense in the northwestern province of Galicia. He said he wanted to do "everything possible and even more" to ensure victims of the fires returned to a normal life. The northwest and west of the country have been hard-hit by the fires, particularly the regions of Castile and Leon, Galicia, Asturias and Extremadura. Spain is expected to remain on heat alert until Monday, with the extreme temperatures having significantly increased the risk of wildfires. Climate change caused by humans is increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of periods of extreme heat, which fuel forest fires. © 2025 AFP
